Momentum just keeps building towards a higher minimum wage. I reported last week that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which now has at least 25 co-sponsors in the Senate and 131 in the House.
Momentum just keeps building towards a higher minimum wage. I reported last week that Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, which now has at least 25 co-sponsors in the Senate and 131 in the House. That’s a strong show of support – but we know the bill will still face opposition from some in Congress. So it’s heartening to see that a number of states aren’t waiting for the federal government to act to raise wages for their lowest-paid workers.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve noted proposed minimum wage increases in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. And just in the past couple of weeks, legislatures in several of these states have taken steps to move those proposals forward. This movement is especially good news for women, who make up the majority of minimum wage workers across the country and in most states.
Here’s a run-down of the major developments:
- Hawaii. On March 5, the state Senate passed a bill to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.25 per hour by 2016, then index it to keep up with inflation. The state House passed a minimum wage increase the same day as part of a broader bill, but the House measure does not include indexing and would raise the wage to $9.00 per hour by 2017. Each chamber will now debate the proposal passed by the other to reach agreement on a bill that can be presented to Governor Abercrombie, who has expressed support for an increase.
- New York. The state Assembly recently voted to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00 per hour – and raise the minimum cash wage for tipped food service workers from $5.00 to $6.21 per hour – in 2014, then index wages annually for inflation. The bill now heads to the state Senate.
- New Mexico. On March 4, the state Senate passed a bill (SB 416) to increase the minimum wage from $7.50 to $8.50 per hour, which now goes to the state House. And on March 5, the House Consumer & Public Affairs Committee approved a bill (HB 550) to raise the minimum cash wage for tipped workers from $2.13 to $3.25 per hour; the House Labor & Human Resources Committee is next up to review that bill before it can go to the House floor.
Stay tuned to our blog for more updates!