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By Kate Rogers
CNBC, July 21, 2016

Nearly seven years after the federal minimum wage was raised to $7.25 an hour from $6.55, it has remained stagnant despite the increasingly heated debate over better pay and worker protections.

But that hasn't stopped Ken Weinstein from paying his workers more at his two restaurants in Pennsylvania, where the state minimum wage matches the federal floor.

Weinstein owns two Trolley Car Diners in Philadelphia, and decided two years ago to increase the minimum wage for his 75 employees to $8.50.

"It's a competitive thing — you certainly get better employees by paying them more," said Weinstein, who supports a $12 an hour federal minimum wage. "We have a stable workforce, and it's partly due to treating our employees well, and paying them more than our competitors."

Despite periodic increases, the buying power of the federal minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Data show that in 1968, the federal minimum was equivalent to $10.90 in 2015 dollars, nearly $4 higher than today's rate.

Across the country, 29 states and Washington, D.C., currently have wages above the federal floor ....

For higher-wage advocates, the momentum is a great start, but more work needs to be done.

"It's not acceptable," Holly Sklar, CEO of the advocacy group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said about the seven-year stretch at $7.25. "The whole point of the minimum wage is to have it go up regularly. It shouldn't sit still every year when the cost of living is going up. The minimum wage is losing value." ...

But not everyone on Main Street is ready to pay more. ...

Weinstein disagrees with the notion that a federal minimum wage increase is bad for Main Street, and said higher wages haven't hurt his business. In fact, he's set to open up a third location next summer.

"If we all end up paying our employees more than we do now, they will have more money to spend at our businesses and products — there are benefits to area businesses," he said.

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