Many families earning minimum wage are living below the poverty line.

PA Homepage Eyewitness News WBRE and WYOU, July 6, 2017

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)- Rallies across Pennsylvania today calling for an increase in the state's minimum wage. That rate now stands at $7.25 per hour.

The folks at one rally in Wilkes-Barre say the minimum wage at its current level is barely enough to make ends meet. In fact, many families earning minimum wage are living below the poverty line.

They came from all over Northeastern Pennsylvania to urge people to support House Bill 1520...

By Monica Stabile
Springfield Business Journal, July 5, 2017

The Illinois General Assembly’s approval last month of a measure to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour over a five-year period has drawn mixed reviews among the business community. ...

Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national group comprised of business owners who support gradually raising the minimum wage to at least $12 per hour by [2020], says that workers who earn more money drive the economy by spending more, leading businesses to see a rise in consumer demand, resulting in job creation....

By Natalie Kitroeff
Los Angeles Times, July 1, 2017

More than half a million Angelenos stand to get a raise this weekend, making the city the latest testing ground in the drive to boost incomes of bottom-rung workers. ...

By Julia Horowitz
CNN Money, June 30, 2017

A lot of Americans are getting a raise this holiday weekend. Minimum wage hikes take effect Saturday in cities, counties and states across the country.

Interview by Jaisal Noor
Real News Network, June 30, 2017

Economic Policy Institute's Ben Zipperer and small business owner Andrew Buerger discuss the overwhelming data that shows minimum wage increases don't hurt employment, and why uplifting workers also has broader benefits.

Op-Ed By John Traynor, Owner, Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, The Kitchen & Gallery Bar
Pennsylvania's minimum wage is stuck in the past and that's bad for business. ...

By Nick Perez
Sacramento Bee, June 28, 2017

On July 1, the minimum wage will increase in Oregon, Maryland and Washington, D.C. – but California will still have fourth-highest minimum wage in the country.

By Cole Lauterbach
Illinois News Network, June 26, 2017

Gov. Bruce Rauner has received a bill that would set a $15 minimum wage in Illinois, tying the Prairie State for the highest rate in the nation.

WBEZ-FM Radio, June 22, 2017

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Business owners want Governor Bruce Rauner to sign a bill to increase Illinois's minimum wage. The legislation passed last month that eventually would raise Illinois' minimum wage to $15 an hour by the year 2022. David Borris owns Hel's Kitchen, a catering company in suburban Northbrook. "If they want to enact enlightened public policy, which we are one signature away from doing, right, we would recognize the idea that rising wages is good for all small businesses and even good for big business too." Borris says a higher wage would increase worker retention and lower turnover costs.
 

By Greg Hinz
Crain's Chicago Business, June 21, 2017

Much of the state's business community is vehemently opposed to a bill now on its way to Gov. Bruce Rauner that would hike the state's minimum wage to $15 by 2022. But some firms are all in favor, and they're revving up a campaign to get Rauner to go along.

In a conference call today, owners of three Illinois companies, all in the consumer field where cost-cutting is particularly important, say they've learned that there are distinct advantages to them and their customers to keeping labor happy.

Kelly...