As a candidate, Elaine Luria said, “Everyone deserves a living wage.” But as a congresswoman, the Virginia Democrat paid multiple workers less than the income needed to reach living wages in the Old Dominion.
During his first run for Congress, Luria called the $ 7.25 federal minimum wage a “criminal” and said he believed “everyone deserves a living wage to raise their family in society.” At least two of his congressional staffers, though, earned less than the annual wage marked a living wage in Virginia, the pay disclosure shows.
According to the Living Wage Calculator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an adult who has no children must earn an annual salary of $ 34,552 to make a living in Virginia. Luria paid at least two junior staff less than that amount, according to the Legal Research Services Legislation. As a staff assistant, Loria’s current Virginia Beach material services representative, Jacob Hollander, earns only $ 33,588 annually. Former Luria staff assistant Nolan Brown, meanwhile, has done even lower, earning an annual rate of $ 31,769. Brown left Luria’s office last year.
Luria Communications Director Jess Genco says every employee of the Congressional Women’s Office now “earns a living.” He did not return a request for comment about past employees of Luria’s office who did not make a living.
In 2018, Luria was touted as a moderate, business-minded Democrat, when she narrowly defeated Republican nominee Scott Taylor in the same district as former President Donald Trump two years ago. When Luria campaigned against the $ 15 federal minimum wage – instead of opting for a regional approach to protect small business owners – she resorted to co-sponsorship legislation that would raise the nationwide minimum wage by $ 15.
The flip-flop came shortly after Luria sold her small business, which she often called for in the campaign to prove that she understood the economic risks of a মজ 15 minimum wage. Such a policy, Luria said during the 2018 Candidate Forum, “would pose a risk to my business and other businesses.”
Despite her renewed desire to raise the minimum wage for small businesses in the United States, Luria ranks last among congressional delegates in Virginia in terms of middle-class wages, according to Legistorm. In a statement given Washington Free BeaconGenco noted the fact that Luria “has voted in favor of raising the federal minimum wage to সাংবাদিক 15 an hour as a journalist.”
Since she joined Congress in 2019, Luria has emerged as a top target for Republicans as the GOP seeks to regain control of the House. Luria’s status as a weak member, however, has intensified since Virginia’s 2021 governorship election. Exactly one year after President Joe Biden won by 2 points in the second congressional district of Luria in 2020, Virginia Governor Glenn Yankin (R) took it to 12 points last November, a huge 14-point swing.
This development confirmed to Republicans that they could remove Luria in 2022, two years after she defeated Taylor by nearly 6 points. Taylor is considering another race against Luria, and Navy veterans Jane Kiggins and Jerome Bell have already announced their candidacies. Kiggan also serves as a state senator and geriatric nurse practitioner.
This is not the first time that Luria’s work as a congresswoman has contradicted her statement as a candidate. Luria condemned the school choice policy during her 2018 campaign but failed to report that she served as president of a private high school. Democrats send their daughter to a private school in Norfolk that can cost upwards of 12 12,000 a year.
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