WASHINGTON — Democrats are pushing for a minimum-wage increase state by state, after failing to secure a federal wage hike in Congress this year.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D., Mass.), former senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards and state organizers urged approval of minimum-wage initiatives on ballots Nov. 7 in Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Missouri, Nevada and Ohio, in a conference call with reporters Monday.
Proponents of the increases, including organized labor and community and religious groups, hope the hot-button minimum-wage proposals will boost voter turnout and help tilt the balance in key Democratic races. There are 23 states as well as the District of Colombia that currently have a minimum wage above the federally mandated $5.15 an hour, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The minimum-wage measures include an increase to $6.85 from $5.15 in Ohio and Colorado, $6.75 from $5.15 in Arizona, $6.50 from $5.15 in Missouri, and $6.15 from $5.15 in Nevada and Montana.
“The reason we began these ballot initiatives in these states is because the Republican leadership in Congress thwarted the will of the American people,” in helping to vote down efforts in the House and Senate to pass a minimum-wage increase this summer, said Edwards, who has traveled around the country this year to build a grassroots campaign for the state ballot initiatives. “This is the kind of work from the ground up that takes place when Congress does not meet its responsibility.”
Edwards said he is optimistic the ballot measures will pass in all six states.
Democrats are threatening to take control of the House or Senate in the midterm elections and trying to mobilize voters in key states and districts around the country, while jump-starting efforts in Congress to address the minimum wage again.
The House approved GOP-backed legislation in July linking a $2.10 increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 to a permanent cut in inheritance taxes for multimillionaires and other tax breaks, but Senate Democrats defeated the bill in August, largely due to the tax cuts for the wealthy that Republican leaders insisted on including in the package.
Kennedy, a longtime advocate of increasing the minimum wage, said Monday he would try to quickly push a bill in the Senate if Democrats take control. Kennedy would become chairman of the Health, Education, Labor & Pension committee with a Democratic majority.
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“For me, personally, if we recapture the Senate, I hope to get the minimum-wage [increase] out right away,” said Kennedy. “That would be our first order of business.”
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), the leading Democrat in the House who is likely to become speaker if her party wins the majority, has pledged to make a minimum-wage increase a top priority.