WASHINGTON – On June 20, Republican members of the House Committee on Appropriations defeated an amendment offered by Democratic committee members that would boost the federal minimum wage by $2.10 an hour over a two-year period, during consideration of the fiscal year (FY) 2007 Science, State and Justice spending bill.

Last week, as reported in the June 16 Washington Report, the committee voted 32 to 27 to adopt the wage increase as part of the FY2007 Labor-Health and Human Services spending bill, which was subsequently removed from the House floor schedule for a vote. Of the seven Republican committee members who at that time voted in favor of the amendment, five voted against it during committee proceedings on June 20, while two left the room before voting took place, reports Congress Daily. 

"The outcome was not a surprise to Appropriations ranking member David Obey (D-WI)," writes the news source. Rep. Obey was quoted as saying he was aware the Republican leadership "had turned some people around" after the markup.

Reps. Ray LaHood (R-IL) and Don Sherwood (R-PA) accused Democrats of "playing politics" by offering the minimum wage amendment again after its successful outcome in the Labor-HHS measure because that bill was the proper bill for the amendment--not the Science, State and Justice measure.

"This is a little political charade, for no other reason than to try and embarrass people. It's a charade, and I'm not going to play your game," said LaHood. Meanwhile, Rep. Obey responded, "If you want to talk about political tricks, let's talk about bottling up the Labor-HHS bill because an amendment was attached the leadership didn't like."

Also on June 20, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) commented that he would not support any legislative effort by Democrats to increase the minimum wage, writes Congress Daily.

"I've been in this business for 25 years, and I've never voted for an increase in the minimum wage," Rep. Boehner said, adding, "I'm opposed to it, and I think a vast majority of our Conference is opposed to it …. There are limits to my willingness to just throw anything out on the floor."