Raising the Floor on Pay

The New York Times published a great article today in its online version on the history and current status of the minimum wage. The article states that the Democrats plan to introduce a bill in Congress next month that would increase the federal minimum for the first time in a decade — to $7.25 an hour in the spring of 2009, reaching that level in three steps from the present $5.15 an hour.

One notable fact that the article discusses is that the States have taken the lead in raising the minimum wage everywhere but in the South. Twenty-nine states have jumped ahead of the federal government and now have minimums that range from $6.15 to $7.63 an hour, lifting 70 percent of the nation’s work force well above the federal level of $5.15.

Link to New York Times article

N. DeWayne Pope, DeWayne Pope LLC