Speaking of ballot initiatives, as a result of the successful minimum wage initiative last year in the Sunshine State, the Florida minimum wage increased as of last Thursday, September 30, 2021 from the former minimum of $8.56 per hour to the new minimum of $10/hour. The 17 percent jump in the state minimum represents the…
Read More »At least on the issues of a $15 minimum wage and paid family leave, there are few, if any, discernible differences between resigned former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his replacement, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. Notwithstanding Hochul’s promises to be different from her disgraced predecessor, she praised Cuomo’s “strong legacy of accomplishment” and went…
Read More »Last week on a straight party-line vote of 26-15, the Delaware General Assembly passed legislation, already approved by the state senate, that will incrementally raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2025. The proposal, which Governor John Carney is expected to sign, makes the President’s home state the latest to adopt a…
Read More »In testimony last week before the House Education and Labor Committee, in response to a specific question from California Representative Mark Takano, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh asserted that the current minimum salary is definitely too low. He advised the committee that the Department of Labor (DOL) is currently reviewing the Final Overtime Rule currently in…
Read More »Notwithstanding that the current labor shortage is driving wages up without any kind of government mandate being necessary, efforts continue to impose a $15/hour minimum wage. While there’s still no movement in Congress on the national minimum (currently $7.25), Delaware – the home state of President Biden – is moving towards setting a $15 state…
Read More »Virginia employers have more negative hits on their horizon. The minimum wage, which jumped $2.25 per hour to $9.50 on May 1, 2021, is slated to rise by another $1.50 to $11/hour on January 1, 2022; and then another $1 in 2023 to $12/hour. However, if the General Assembly chooses to reenact these rate increases…
Read More »Michigan Governor Gretchen Witmer is proposing a deal for small business owners in The Wolverine State that would put a $15/hour minimum in place for many Michigan workers. The Governor’s plan would provide 3-month wage grants to businesses that agree to increase worker wages to $15 per hour with the grant paying the differential between…
Read More »At the federal level, the push for a $15 minimum wage is still hung up by the opposition of moderate democrat Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). The two moderates have agreed that the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25/hour) should be raised, but balk at the $15 figure. Sinema last week joined Mitt…
Read More »As we anticipate another run by progressives in Congress at a federal $15 minimum wage, it’s reported that a group of moderate Senators – led by Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) are working on bipartisan legislation that would increase the federal minimum over the next four years from the current $7.25 to $10…
Read More »It will not be a surprise when the issue of raising the federal minimum wage again surfaces in Congress. A proposal by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to raise the current federal wage of $7.25 an hour to $15 per hour may have been stricken from the COVID stimulus bill by the Senate Parliamentarian, but the…
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