Senate Again Fails to Raise Minimum Wage

[Judi Lynn]

Senate Again Fails to Raise Minimum Wage
By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

(10-19) 15:03 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --

Senate proposals to raise the minimum wage were rejected Wednesday, making it unlikely that the lowest allowable wage, $5.15 an hour since 1997, will rise in the foreseeable future.

A labor-backed measure by Sen. Edward Kennedy would have raised the minimum to $6.25 over an 18-month period. A Republican counterproposal would have combined the same $1.10 increase with various breaks and exemptions for small businesses.

The Kennedy amendment to a spending bill went down 51-47, and the GOP alternative 57-42. Under a Senate agreement, they would have needed 60 votes for approval.

Kennedy, D-Mass., said Hurricane Katrina demonstrated the depth of poverty in the country and he pointed out that a single parent with two children working a minimum wage earns $10,700 a year, $4,500 below the poverty line.

He said it was "absolutely unconscionable" that in the same period that Congress has denied a minimum wage increase, lawmakers have voted themselves seven pay raises worth $28,000.
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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/10/19/national/w142804D72.DTL