How Smart States Grow Their Economies

Here's an idea for the 2013 Kentucky General Assembly: goose the economy by raising the minimum wage.

 

Diane Sweet at Crooks and Liars:

Crossposted from Occupy America

[Source: Pew Center on the States]

The New Year brings some good news for minimum-wage workers in 10 states.
Nine states will adjust the wages to accommodate the rising costs of living, as required by state laws, while Rhode Island will implement a law signed by the governor in June that raises its minimum wage to $7.75 per hour. The wage hikes range between 10 cents and 35 cents per hour, adding between $190 and $510 to the pockets of nearly one million worker’s annual pay.

With those changes, 19 states and the District of Columbia will have minimum wages above the federal level of $7.25, which translates to about $15,000 per year for a full-time worker. That rate has been in place since 2009 and has not been adjusted for inflation.

Workers in 31 states remain at $7.25 an hour, and House Republicans will continue to block the minimum wage increase that would make full-time work pay enough to actually keep people out of poverty.