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.

By Isaiah J. Poole
TomPaine.com, 7/23/07

With all of the talk about the conservative obstructionism in Congress that is keeping important bills from becoming law, Tuesday brings something worth celebrating: The federal minimum wage, which had been frozen at $5.15 an hour for almost 10 years, increases 70 cents an hour, to $5.85 cents an hour.

By Kris Maher
Wall Street Journal, 7/21/07

On Tuesday, about two million workers will get a raise, as the first increase in the federal minimum wage since 1997 takes effect.

But for all the handwringing about how raising the federal minimum wage would hurt employers and boost inflation, this week's initial wage increase to $5.85 an hour is expected to have little impact on the economy. The price of a cheese pizza might rise, but that could be blamed on higher dairy and gasoline prices, as well as higher pay for cooks and cashiers.

New Orleans City Business, 7/20/07

METAIRIE - Seven Louisiana business people have signed a nationwide statement in support of the higher federal minimum wage, which takes effect Tuesday.

Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a project of Boston-based Business for Shared Prosperity, is collecting signatures from businesses across the country in support of the higher minimum wage at www.businessforafairminimumwage.org.

The Louisiana signatures are from:

- Evelyn Cathey, Mandeville, president of Creations Galore.

- Donna Cleary, Baton Rouge, owner and CEO of Cleary Enterprises.

KAKE-TV 10, ABC, Wichita, 7/20/07

Kansas – 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.

Kansas workers covered under the federal law will get a raise from $5.15 to $5.85 next week. Contrary to conventional wisdom, many businesses are cheering the raise.

Minimum Wages: How Does Your State Stack Up?
By Brad Kenney, IT Editor
Industry Week, 7/20/07

According to a recent study by HR information and software provider CCH, workers in most states will not be affected by the upcoming increase in the federal minimum wage to $5.85.

That's because 32 states and the District of Columbia have minimum wages higher than the new federal level.

Where state and federal minimum wage rates differ, the higher rate prevails.

Some quick facts:
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee do not have state minimum wage laws, so...

Common Good Network
7/20/07

This week The Common Good Network interviewed Holly Sklar, author of Raise the Floor and A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future. Holly is a consultant with the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, of which Protestants for the Common Good is an active member. PCG Deputy Director Rev. Jennifer Kottler serves on the Executive Committee of the Steering Committee of this campaign.

CGN: It seems like the increase in the minimum wage is big news. Why is that?