Do we need to increase the federal mininum wage?

Is there a need for the minimum wage?

As Congress considers an increase to the federal minimum wage, there are several questions that need to be answered. To begin with, the Senate should ask whether the federal government really needs to intervene to increase the minimum wage. Does Congress need to force numerous states and companies, from Wall Street to the local mom and pop shop, to increase the minimum wage?

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia already have minimum wages above the federal minimum. Fourteen of the 21 states with minimum wage levels the same as the federal level have at least one bill pending in their legislatures or pending as a ballot initiative to raise the state minimum wage. That leaves only seven states that aren’t above the federal minimum wage or aren’t considering moving above the federal minimum wage. That does not sound like an overwhelming need that requires immediate Senate attention.

The states are working on this. Either they’re already way ahead of the federal government, or considering action to move ahead of the federal government. Click here to read more.

Date	Title
1/30/07	Current record
1/12/07	Real reform for the Senate ethics bill
1/4/07	The Coburn Principles

Tom Coburn, M.D., United States Senator from Oklahoma

Right Now

Jan 30 2007

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