Politicians Likely to Back State Minimum Wage Increases

Candidates favor modest boosts at the state level, while opposing federal minimum wage increase.

September 17, 2014

WASHINGTON – In Washington, D.C., Republicans are uniformly allied against President Obama's call to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. But in the five states where voters will have a say on wages this fall, GOP candidates in competitive races say they favor an increase.

In Alaska and Arkansas, Republicans running for Senate seats oppose increasing the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, but they back state ballot measures that would raise their local wage floors more modestly, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Voters in Nebraska and South Dakota will decide whether to increase their states' minimum wages, though the floor would be below the $10.10 federal minimum. Voters in Illinois will decide on a nonbinding referendum to boost the hourly wage to $10, after an increase failed in the legislature.

Meanwhile, no group with significant funding is fighting the proposed increase in any state where the minimum wage is on the ballot. These developments signal that states are likely to continue to raise their minimum wages while legislation stalls in Congress. Since 2002, wage increases have appeared on the ballot 10 times, in nine states, with voters opting to raise the wage every time, usually by lopsided margins.

Republicans' backing of the measures in states with ballot questions suggests Democrats will have trouble using the issue against GOP candidates. Polls show a wide majority of Americans support raising the minimum wage.

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