Minimum Wage Battles Heat Up Nationwide

Last month, lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House approved a bill seeking to raise the state’s minimum wage gradually. The bill would raise the wage from US$7.25 per hour to $11 per hour by the beginning of 2027. The minimum wage would then increase to $13 per hour in 2028 and would eventually rise to $15 per hour in 2029, with cost-of-living adjustments to follow. The bill now moves to the Pennsylvania Senate for consideration.

Meanwhile, this month, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill that will increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2028. The state’s current minimum wage of $12.77 per hour, which took effect Jan. 1, will rise to $13.75 per hour on Jan. 1, 2027, and then to $15 per hour on Jan. 1, 2028. Beginning in 2029, the wage will be adjusted annually to reflect changes in the consumer price index.

However, also this month in Louisiana, two bills seeking to raise the minimum wage did not make it out of committee. Louisiana’s minimum wage mirrors the federal level, which remains at $7.25. Additionally, last year, Tennessee proposed raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $20 an hour, but the bill failed in a House subcommittee in February. That same month, a Kansas lawmaker pushed a bill to increase the state’s minimum wage to $16 an hour, but the legislation has failed to gain traction. The minimum wage in Kansas also matches the federal minimum wage rate of $7.25 an hour.

On the other hand, in March a New York City proposal called for raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour for large businesses by 2030 and to $29 an hour for small businesses by 2031. The legislation, under consideration by the City Council, would nearly double the citywide minimum wage—which increased to $17 in January. The proposed minimum wage law would affect more than 1 million workers, according to a 2023 report.

If passed, New York City would have the highest minimum wage in the country, surpassing cities such as Denver, which currently has a minimum wage of $18.81 per hour; Washington, D.C., with a minimum wage of $17.95; and Flagstaff, Arizona, where the minimum wage is $17.85, Nation’s Restaurant News reported. California hospitality workers also earn $20 an hour following 2023 legislation that raised the minimum wage for fast-food workers.

As CMM previously reported, earlier this year a proposed plan by Maryland lawmakers could raise the minimum wage to $25 by 2030, up from $15. Additionally, in West Virginia, lawmakers introduced legislation to raise the state’s minimum wage to $11 per hour by Jan. 1, 2027, a significant increase from the current $8.75 per hour. In February, Wisconsin lawmakers also proposed to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour with a scheduled path to reach $20 per hour by 2030. Wisconsin’s minimum wage currently matches the federal minimum wage.

Earlier this year, CMM also reported that bills were introduced in Missouri and Nebraska that would lower the minimum wage for minors.

Looking to the future, on June 16, Oklahoma residents will vote on whether to raise the state minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2029.