Congressmember Espaillat is a strong proponent of increasing the federal minimum wage to a living wage.
Increase the federal minimum wage to a living wage.
Occurrences
Mr. Espaillat
Evidence
The Labor issue page says Congressman Espaillat is 'a strong proponent of increasing the federal minimum wage to a living wage.'
Congress.gov lists Rep. Adriano Espaillat as an original cosponsor of H.R.603 on 01/28/2021.
Congress.gov says the bill would increase the federal minimum wage over a 5-year period, and its latest action was referral to the House Committee on Education and Labor; the tracker status is Introduced.
The Department of Labor states that the federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour.
Congress.gov shows H.R.2743 was introduced on 04/08/2025, referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce, and its tracker status remains Introduced.
Congress.gov's cosponsor list for H.R.2743 shows Rep. Adriano Espaillat added as a cosponsor on 09/23/2025.
The U.S. Department of Labor states that the federal minimum wage for covered nonexempt employees is $7.25 per hour.
Assessments
Espaillat publicly backed increasing the federal minimum wage and took concrete legislative action by cosponsoring Raise the Wage Act bills, including H.R. 603 in 2021 and H.R. 2743 in 2025. But those bills did not become law, and the federal minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour. Because he made a serious legislative effort without delivering the promised policy outcome, this counts as failed delivery with effort credit.
The promised outcome was to increase the federal minimum wage to a living wage. The evidence shows Espaillat advocated for this and made a concrete legislative effort by originally cosponsoring H.R.603, the Raise the Wage Act of 2021, but that bill remained introduced/referred to committee and did not become law. The federal minimum wage remains $7.25 per hour, so the promised policy outcome was not delivered despite serious effort.