US House votes Federal minimum wage increase
Thursday, January 11, 2007
The US House of Representatives voted today to increase the Federal minimum wage from US$5.15 per hour to US$7.25 per hour as Democrats moved to fulfill their promise to pass legislation on a host of issues within the first 100 legislative hours of the newly elected congress.
The final vote in the House was 315–116, with 82 Republicans joining Democrats to vote the bill into law. The bill will now go to the Senate, where a debate on whether it should be bundled with tax cuts for small businesses is expected.
The last increase was in 1997 when President Clinton encouraged the Republican controlled Congress to vote in favor of the bill.
Sources
- Associated Press. "'100 hours': House passes minimum wage increase" — CNN, January 10, 2007
- Thomas Ferraro, Reuters. "Democratic-led House votes to raise minimum wage" — Washington Post, January 10, 2007