By Dr. Amy K. Glasmeier
Poverty in America Project, Penn State, 7/26/07

Contrary to conventional wisdom, growing numbers of businesses say increase in minimum wage is good for the bottom line

The Chandler & Brownsboro Statesman, 7/26/07
Brownsboro, TX

By John Arensmeyer
OpEdNews.com, 7/25/07

The sky is not going to fall.

On July 24, the federal minimum wage increased for the first time in ten years, moving up 70 cents from $5.15 an hour to $5.85. It will take two more years before the final step in the raise to $7.25 takes place in 2009.

By Mike Kelly
Cox News Service, 7/24/07

WASHINGTON - A hike in the federal minimum wage went into effect on Tuesday for the first time in ten years, ending the longest stretch without such an increase since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938.

The minimum wage rose 70 cents, from $5.15 an hour to $5.85 an hour. This wage raise is the first of three scheduled to take effect over the next two years.

By Steve Fernlund
Distributed by the American Forum, 7/20/07
Known placements to date include Eastern Group Publications, Prince George's Sentinel (MD), LA Watts Times, Daytona Beach News Journal, Daily Statesmen (MO), Coalfield Progress (VA), Sun Advocate (UT), Clinton News (MS), Grant County Herald (MN), Crookston Daily News (MN), Winchester Sun (KY), Beaumont Enterprise (TX).

The federal minimum wage is rising July 24 for the first time since 1997. This is the longest period between adjustments since the federal minimum wage was enacted in 1938.

70 cent raise is first increase in 10 years

By Tammy Joyner
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 7/24/07

Connor Adams started his first job less than a month ago and already he's slated for a raise, thanks to Uncle Sam.

"Oh! Really?" the 15-year-old responded when told of the extra money he'll get in his paycheck starting today.

He was hired at $5.50 an hour — above the old hourly minimum wage of $5.15 — to bus tables for the summer at Grant Central Pizza & Pasta Restaurant in Grant Park. Now, he'll get $5.85 an hour, the result of Congress passing an increase this year.

By Holly Sklar
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service, 7/19/07
Minuteman Media, 8/15/07
Known placements to date include Sacramento Bee, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Virginian Pilot, Raleigh News & Observer, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Reno Gazette Journal, Lansing State Journal, Topeka Capital-Journal, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Asheville Citizen Times (NC), Post-Bulletin (MN), Dominion Post (WV), Times Argus (VT), Rutland Herald (VT), Grand Forks Herald (ND), The Hour (CT), Daily Union (KS), Batavia Daily News (NY), Aurora Sentinel (CO), Stamford Times (CT), Champion Free Press (GA), AccountabilityCentral.com, CommonDreams.org, OpEdNews.com, etc.

Minimum wage workers made $5.15...

The first minimum wage increase in a decade took effect this week, prompting debate among business owners

By Angus Loten
Inc., 7/24/07

Following the first raise in the federal minimum wage in a decade, which took effect this week, business, trade, and employee groups continue to clash over its long-term impact on small business.

By Lya Sorano
Atlanta Journal Constitution, 07/24/07

In Georgia, one of the reddest of the "red states," one might expect an almost universal denouncement of the raise in the minimum wage. In fact, the opposite is true.

Business owners and managers I've spoken with aren't concerned. They're glad the minimum wage is going up because workers deserve it and they believe it will help our local economy.

By Rev. Rebekah Jordan
Memphis Commercial Appeal, Special to Viewpoints, July 24, 2007

Today, minimum wage workers will finally start receiving something they've been waiting a decade for: a raise. The 10 years during which the U.S. Congress blocked a minimum wage increase was the longest period without a raise since the wage floor was established in 1938.

By Jessica Pupovac
AHN (All Headline News), 7/24/07

Washington, DC (AHN) - Advocates for low-wage workers today are celebrating the first increase in the federal minimum wage to go into effect for over a decade, from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour.

The step is part of a three-part process legislated by Congress in May. On July 24, 2009, at its culmination, the federal minimum wage will reach $7.25. That comes to just over $15,000 a year before taxes for a 52-week work year. The federal poverty level for singles is $10,210, couples is $13,690 and $17,170 for families of three.

By Staff
Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 7/24/07

Washington, DC — For the first time in 10 years, the minimum wage increased on July 24 to $5.58 an hour from $5.15. Another increase, to $6.55, will follow on July 24, 2008 and yet another on July 24, 2009 to $7.25.

The increase marks the end of the longest period without a raise since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938.

North Fulton Times, 7/24/07

July 20, 2007, Georgia – On July 24, for the first time in ten years, the federal minimum wage will go up – marking the end of the longest period without a raise since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938. Many Georgia workers will get a raise from $5.15 to $5.85 next week. Contrary to conventional wisdom, many businesses are cheering the raise.

Minimum Wage Increases Today
Investment Daily News, 7/24/07

Obstructionist Republicans wouldn’t allow it to come to a vote under the last Congress, but the Democrats made sure they made it a priority when they took office earlier this year.

By Stephanie Armour
USA Today, 7/23/07

A new federal minimum wage will go into effect Tuesday, the first in a series of wage increases heralded by some low-income advocates but criticized by business leaders as a potential financial blow.

The minimum wage that takes effect today will boost pay for covered, non-exempt employees to $5.85 an hour from $5.15. The next jump will occur on July 24, 2008, to $6.55 an hour, and then to $7.25 an hour effective July 24, 2009.

The last wage increase was a two-step increase in 1996 and 1997.