By Jordan Graham and Matt Stout
Boston Herald, June 13, 2014
Top House and Senate negotiators struck a deal Wednesday to raise the current $8 per hour minimum wage to $11 per hour by 2017, and the Senate quickly passed it yesterday on a 35-4 vote. The bill does not include a Senate proposal that would have tied the hike to inflation. And it goes beyond a House proposal for a $10.50 per hour wage, without automatic increases for inflation. The House is expected to vote on the compromise bill next week. ...
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a Boston-based network of business owners and executives, applauded the compromise bill.
“A higher minimum wage will boost sales, keep more dollars circulating in our local economy, and reduce the strain on our social safety net caused by poverty wages,” said Holly Sklar, the group’s director. ...