By Tim Rowden
St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune, Jan 2, 2023

More than 20 states, including Missouri and Illinois, will be raising their minimum wages to ring in the new year, according to a report from Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. Another four states and the District of Columbia have increases scheduled later in 2023.

Business owners across the country are welcoming the increases, saying they will boost consumer spending, strengthen local economies and improve employee hiring, retention, productivity and customer service. ...

Locally, Illinois is increasing its minimum wage to $13 on Jan. 1, 2023...

By Lorie Konish
CNBC, Jan 1, 2023. Also NBC4 Washington, NBC Chicago, NBC Boston, NBC Philadelphia, Telemundo, MSN and other outlets.

As the calendar turns to 2023, workers in more than half of all states have something to look forward to this year: a higher minimum wage. ...

Raising minimum wages can also help increase consumer demand and put money back into local economies, said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network of business organizations, owners and executives that support higher minimum wages.

“Putting needed raises in minimum wage...

By Dana Gerber
Boston Globe, Jan 1, 2023

... On Jan. 1, the state’s minimum wage increased from $14.25 an hour to $15, one of the highest rates in the nation. It was the final step in a series of pay hikes laid out in the 2018 “grand bargain" ...

But with consumer prices up 7.1 percent from last year, the impact of this increase has been especially dampened: Today’s $15 gets you only as far as $12.70 did in June 2018, when Governor Charlie Baker signed the incremental increases into law, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics....

By Risell Ventura
Nebraska TV, Jan 1, 2023

The first day of the year brought with it the Nebraska’s minimum wage increase, the first step under Initiative 433, passed by voters in November ...

Many people support the initiative, like Dave Titterington, the owner of Wild Bird Habitat Store, in Omaha and Lincoln. ...

“When you consider the cost of childcare, when you consider groceries, and the cost of fuel, it will greatly benefit the employees because they are going to be able to help ends meet a little bit easier," Titterington said. ...

Titterington said the...

By Andy Medici
The Business Journals, The Playbook, Dec 28, 2022, Updated Dec 29, 2022. In Washington Business Journal, Boston Business Journal, St. Louis, Dayton, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Milwaukee, Dallas, Kansas City, Phoenix, Charlotte, Memphis, Orlando, Philadelphia, Portland, Sacramento and many other business journals.

... About 23 states are raising their minimum wages to ring in the new year, while four more states have increases scheduled later in the year, according to an analysis by Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, an advocacy group that supports raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2025...

By Susan Cover Maine
Spectrum News, Dec. 29, 2022

... Effective Sunday, the state minimum wage will increase from $12.75 to $13.80 per hour, an annual adjustment required by state law. ...

Across the country, 23 states are raising their minimum wage in January, with four more states and Washington D.C. scheduled for increases later in the year, according to Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network of business owners that advocates for fair wages.

Washington D.C. pays the best, with a $16.10 minimum wage that increases each year on July 1. It is followed by Washington...

By Dee DePass
Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dec 28, 2022
Minimum wage earners in Minnesota will get a small raise on Jan. 1, as will their counterparts in 22 other states ...

The inflation adjustment in Minnesota means that workers at businesses with more than $500,000 in annual revenue will see a 26-cent boost in hourly pay to $10.59. ... The minimum wage also is higher in some cities. St. Paul boosted its minimum wage from $12.50 to $15 an hour effective July 1, 2022. That rate rises to $15.19 an hour starting Sunday. Minneapolis' minimum wage jumped ... to $15 in July and is also poised to reach $15.19 on Jan. 1. ...

"These needed raises don't stay in workers' pockets," said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. "They energize communities, as workers and their families have more to spend at local businesses. Minimum wage raises also pay off in lower employee turnover, increased productivity and better customer service, which strengthens small business competitiveness."

By Kristin Danley-Greiner
Patch Maryland, Dec 27, 2022. Also Annapolis, Bel Air, Silver Spring, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Edgewater, Germantown, Ellicott City

Some workers across Maryland will see an increase in pay beginning next week, as the state moves toward a minimum wage of $15 per hour, which will take place on Jan. 1, 2025. The current rate of pay for minimum wage workers across Maryland is $12.50 per hour and the new minimum wage will increase to $13.25.

Maryland happens to be one of 23 states across the nation that are increasing their minimum wage. Four more...

By Jacob Comer
WOWT NBC6 News, Dec. 27, 2022. Also NBC Nebraska, Scottsbluff; 1011Now KOLN; KSNB-TV (NBC), Hastings

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - Nebraska’s minimum wage will increase annually until 2026 after voters passed an initiative in November. ...

Nebraska Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, which is a coalition of more than 300 businesses, strongly supported the initiative.

“Nebraska voters passed a $15 minimum wage in November and we’re looking forward to the first step toward $15 in January,” said Dave Titterington, owner of Wild Bird Habitat Stores in Lincoln and Omaha.” It will bring a better new year...

Springfield Business Journal, Dec 27, 2022

The new year is slated to bring an increased minimum wage to the Show- Me State. The new minimum pay starting Jan. 1 is $12 per hour ... It’s the final hike approved by voters in 2018 through Proposition B. ... After that, the state’s minimum wage would be indexed for the cost of living, according to a news release from the Business for a Fair Minimum Wage organization, a national network of business owners, executives and organizations that supported Prop B.

“Minimum wage increases are a great boost...

By Jeff Arnold
Patch Illinois, Dec 27, 2022

As 2022 gives way to the new year, some workers across the state will see an increase in pay beginning next week. The state’s minimum wage rate is set to increase to $13 on Sunday ... Illinois is slowly moving toward a minimum wage of $15 per hour, which will take place on Jan. 1, 2025, after the rate of minimum wage jumps to $14 in 2024. ...

The minimum wage increase is expected to affect an estimated 510,400 workers in Illinois, or about 9 percent of the state's...

By Deb Belt
Patch Virginia, Dec 27, 2022

Some workers across Virginia will see an increase in pay beginning next week, as the state moves toward a minimum wage of $15 per hour ... The current rate of pay for minimum wage workers across Virginia is $11 per hour and the new minimum wage will increase to $12 on Sunday. ...

Business for a Fair Minimum Wage coalition noted that most business owners are in favor of the increases as they'll help boost consumer spending, strengthen local economies and help improve employee hiring, retention and productivity...

By Erin Bamer
Omaha World Herald, Dec 25, 2022

INCOLN — Nebraskans earning the lowest wages in the state will start the new year with a pay raise. On Jan. 1, the state’s minimum wage will rise from $9 per hour to $10.50 per hour. It’s the first increase in a series of gradual raises that will take the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026 in line with a ballot initiative that passed in November. ...

Dave Titterington, who owns two Wild Bird Habitat Stores in Lincoln, already pays his employees above...

By Business for a Fair Minimum Wage
Nebraska Rural Radio Association, Dec. 22, 2022

On Jan. 1, Nebraska’s minimum wage will increase from $9 to $10.50 as the first step under Initiative 433, passed by voters in November. Business owners across the state say the minimum wage increase will boost consumer spending and strengthen Nebraska’s workforce and local businesses.

In November, 59% of Nebraska voters approved Initiative 433, which will gradually raise the state minimum wage to $15 by 2026. Nebraska Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a coalition of more than 300 businesses across the state, supported the increase.

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With the federal minimum wage at $7.25 an hour (unchanged for 13 years and counting), states across the country continue to take matters into their own hands. The latest to join the party is Nebraska, where voters passed an initiative in November’s elections to gradually raise the minimum wage there to $15 per hour by 2026. ... Nebraska joins 27 states plus Washington, D.C., that also have increases scheduled for 2023 as part of initiatives to up their minimum wages passed in recent years.

The bumps are the fruit of years-long efforts from activists and one of the groups, called Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, argues that the increases also make business sense by boosting consumer spending and improving employee morale.