By Kate Gibson
CBS News MoneyWatch, July 22, 2016
Bill Phelps and Camille Moran run businesses in states with radically differing rules on what workers on the bottom rung of the income ladder should make, yet they hold similar views on the federal minimum wage, which on Sunday marks a seventh year stuck at $7.25 an hour.
Both feel an increase in the minimum wage is long over due -- it's been unchanged by Congress since July 24, 2009 -- and both pay their own employees accordingly.
"We pay our seasonal workers well over the minimum wage; to me, $7.25 is a ridiculously low amount to work long hours in the heat, it's very hard labor," said Moran, the owner of Four Seasons Christmas Tree and Produce Farm in Natchitoches, Louisiana, one of 21 states where the the federal minimum serves as the official wage floor.
Since 2008, Moran has paid an hourly rate of at least $10 to her workers, who include seven full-time employees at her nursery and produce farm and an additional three seasonal workers during the Christmas holiday season. She now pays between $15 and $20 an hour, a policy that she says pays off for her business in the form of employee loyalty and performance on the job. ...
Nearly 1,500 miles west, in Pasadena, California, Phelps runs Wetzel's Pretzels, a franchise operation of fast-food outlets in 32 states. ...
When California hiked its minimum wage to $9 an hour from $8 nearly two years ago, Phelps was worried about the impact. Instead, outsized gains in same-store sales followed, as low-wage workers spent their additional income, a boon to the local economy. "It had a huge positive impact on our stores," he said, "and then when the minimum wage went up the second time, to $10 an hour, our same-store sales increased" ...
In looking at the federal level, Phelps said he opposes taking a huge leap, such as an immediate jump to $15 an hour, saying it could rattle the U.S. economy. Rather, he supports a stair-step approach, such as California has done, with incremental increases each year. California's unemployment rate has been falling for three years, "despite two significant minimum wage increases," he noted. ...
"Look at the federal number, which hasn't been raised in seven years, I think that's crazy," said Phelps. "I understand not wanting to hurt businesses, but by the same token, how do you live off of $7.25 an hour?" ...
Copyright 2016 CBS Interactive Inc.