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By:  Burnam                                                     H.C.R. No. 74 



HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, Living wage ordinances have been adopted by more 
than 80 city and county governments and universities throughout the 
United States; the ordinances, with wages ranging from $6.25 to 
$12.00 per hour, require companies with whom the governments and 
universities contract, or that receive grants, loans, bond 
financing, tax abatements, or other economic development 
subsidies, to pay employees enough to support themselves and their 
families; and
	WHEREAS, The federal hourly minimum wage of $5.15 totals 
$9,880 per year for a full-time job holder and is $8,520 below the 
federal poverty guideline of $18,400, thus making it impossible to 
secure safe, decent, affordable housing; and
	WHEREAS, According to Out of Reach 2001, a publication of the 
National Low Income Housing Coalition, the United States Congress 
would have to double the current minimum wage to enable low-income 
working families, as well as those families leaving welfare rolls, 
to afford a two-bedroom rental apartment at the federal fair market 
rent (FMR); and
	WHEREAS, Fair market rents are established by the United 
States Department of Housing and Urban Development for each 
municipality in the country and are based on gross rent estimates, 
which include shelter, rent, and the cost of utilities except 
telephone service; living wages, therefore, will vary per area in 
accordance with the local FMR; and
	WHEREAS, The United States Conference of Mayors reports that 
at least 3.5 million people are likely to experience homelessness 
during a year, and about 80 percent of those persons face a housing 
crisis solely because they cannot find affordable housing; and
	WHEREAS, According to the Economic Policy Institute, a living 
wage level is usually the wage a full-time worker would need to earn 
to support a family above the federal poverty line, ranging from 100 
percent to 130 percent of the poverty measurement; and
	WHEREAS, The minimum wage, however, has historically failed 
to keep pace with inflation, and now buys approximately 40 percent 
less than it did in the 1950s relative to the amount necessary to 
operate a household as calculated by a University of Arizona 
professor; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 78th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to enact 
legislation to adopt the Universal Living Wage so as to help the 
homeless get off the streets and enable working citizens to obtain 
safe, decent, and affordable housing; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official 
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to 
the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the 
senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the 
Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this 
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a 
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.