By Marilyn Geewax
NPR, Nov 6, 2013
On many economic issues, Americans are deeply divided. But when it comes to giving pay raises to minimum wage workers, voters overwhelmingly say: Do it. That message jumped out Tuesday when more than 6 in 10 voters in New Jersey approved an increase in their state's minimum hourly wage. ...
But while wage increases generally win votes at the state and local level, Congress is slow to act on raising the federal level. The wage had been frozen at $5.15 an hour from 1997 to 2007. That year, Congress approved an increase spread over two years. The final tick upward came in July 2009, when the wage went to $7.25 an hour. ...
Sen.Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who is chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has introduced a bill to push the wage to $10.10 an hour and index it to inflation. Now Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, is saying he will bring up the legislation soon. ... Most business groups remain deeply opposed.
But not all companies agree, and some — including Costco — have joined a coalition called Business For a Fair Minimum Wage. One supporter, Dan Preston, co-owner of Telequest Inc., a video company in Princeton, N.J., released a statement saying: "The costs of higher wages are offset through greater consumer demand, increased employee productivity and substantial savings from reduced employee turnover, for example."
NPR reporter Jim Zarroli contributed to this story.
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