Wage Increase Could Hinge on Tax Cuts
As part of their 100-hour legislative blitz, House Democrats are expected to vote today to increase the minimum wage for the first time in a decade, to $7.25 an hour, in a move that economists say will raise pay for 13 million workers. The bill?s chances are less certain in the Senate, largely because of friction over a Republican push to include tax breaks for small business in the bill. Senate Republicans have hinted that, without such tax cuts, they will filibuster the measure, a move that the bill?s supporters would need 60 votes to overcome. The legislation would lift the federal wage floor, currently $5.15 an hour, to $7.25 in three steps between now and 2009.
See "Wage Increase Could Hinge on Tax Cuts", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, January 9, 2007