Congress votes to raise minimum wage
Legal News Feed
[##_1L|1334176476.jpg|width="140" height="135" alt=""|_##]The US Congress passed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 Thursday, raising the federal minimum wage for the first time in almost a decade. The provision was introduced as an amendment to the Iraq War Supplemental Budget, and will raise the current minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $5.85 an hour within 60 days of enactment and to $7.25 an hour within two years of enactment. The provision, and the Iraq war spending bill, passed the Senate 80-14 and the House 280-142. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) called the raise "long overdue" and criticized Republicans for preventing previous minimum wage bills from passing earlier this year by joining measures that would give tax breaks to businesses. The White House voiced support for the increase, but spokesperson Tony Fratto said that we would "very much prefer that it be paired with appropriate offsets for small businesses who would be disproportionately impacted by the minimum-wage increase." A $4.9 billion tax package also passed along with the minimum wage bill.
The National Restaurant Association (NRA), which represents an industry that employs approximately 12.8 million workers in 935,000 locations, issued a statement Thursday criticizing the minimum wage increase, saying that it "will cost our industry jobs... and that the current $4.9 billion tax package" would not provide sufficient relief for employers most impacted. The NRA claims that the industry "lost more than 146,000 jobs" and delayed the employment of 106,000 new employees as a result of the 40-cent minimum wage increase in 1997.
Related listings
-
Bush appointments may dominate court
Legal News Feed 05/20/2007[##_1L|1340600753.gif|width="135" height="114" alt=""|_##]In the years since President Bush took office, he has picked three of the seven U.S. District Court judges in Colorado and The Pueblo Chieftain has learned he will have the chance to pick two ...
-
CA Gov.proposes new death penalty protocol
Legal News Feed 05/17/2007California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger submitted a capital punishment proposal Tuesday in an effort to persuade US District Judge Jeremy Fogel to lift a moratorium on executions in the state. The proposal includes the construction of a new execution c...
-
Connecticut's civil unions law heads to court
Legal News Feed 05/14/2007[##_1L|1074239149.jpg|width="140" height="135" alt=""|_##]The state Supreme Court on Monday took up the issue of gay marriage in Connecticut, the first state in the nation to pass a civil unions law without court intervention. Eight gay and lesbian c...
New York Commercial Litigation Law Firm - Woods Lonergan PLLC
Founded in 1993 by Managing Partner James F. Woods, Woods Lonergan PLLC has built a strong reputation as a resourceful and industrious firm that provides clients with clear, concise, and straightforward answers to their most challenging legal issues. Partner Lawrence R. Lonergan, who joined the firm in 2008, has been a friend and colleague to Mr. Woods for over 40 years and shares the same business philosophy. Woods Lonergan PLLC’s collective experience and expertise enables the firm to expeditiously and effectively analyze the increasing challenges clients face in an evolving business and legal world, in many instances, avoiding unnecessary time and expense to our clients. Our mission is simple: provide cutting-edge expertise and sound advice in select areas of the law for corporate and business clients. We thrive on providing each client with personalized attention, forceful representation, and a collaborative team effort that embraces collective knowledge.