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Minimum wage boost past due

Congress has once again refused to increase the minimum wage, forcing millions of low-income Americans to continue to scrape along without even a modest pay raise. Ignoring the pressures of inflation and rising costs for housing and other essentials, Congress shot down not one but two wage raise proposals last week.

The first, proposed by Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, would have boosted the $5.15 an hour federal minimum wage by $2.10 over the next two years. The second, a Republican-backed alternative, would have raised the minimum wage by $1.10 and even included select benefits for small businesses to help offset the additional costs.

What's good for Washington is not apparently not good for the rest of America. The last federal minimum wage increase was passed in 1996, but members of Congress have regularly given themselves pay raises since then. Earlier this month, House members voted to give themselves another $3,300 salary increase. This will bring the congressional base salary to $168,500 - $31,000 higher than in 1997. That increase is almost three times the annual $10,700 salary of a minimum wage worker.

Raising the federal minimum wage would help an estimated 7.3-million low-wage workers living day to day. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the last minimum wage increase has been entirely eaten away by inflation.

Some states have taken matters into their own hands. Minimum wage increases have been passed in 21 states. Florida's minimum wage, approved by voters in 2004 despite the scare tactics of business opponents, now stands at $6.40 an hour. The fears proved to be unfounded; the state continues to lead the country in job growth, and the number of businesses have continued to rise.

Raising the minimum wage would be the decent thing to do for Americans struggling to get by, and the money would be plowed right back into the economy.

[Last modified June 26, 2006, 05:49:00]