Virginia’s minimum wage would increase to $7.25 per hour over the next two years under legislation General Assembly Democrats unveiled Tuesday.
Del. Brian Moran,D-Alexandria, and Sen. Mary-Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, said they plan to file their bill when the legislature convenes next month.
“Putting more money in the pockets of Virginians will help them buy homes and put more money into our economy,” Moran said.
The commonwealth’s $5.15 minimum hourly wage would go to $6.15 on July 1 and then grow to $7.25 on July 1, 2008. Virginia has the same minimum wage as the federal government, though Congressional Democrats want to pass legislation increasing the federal rate to $7.25 in January.
Raising the minimum wage in Virginia, which has not happened since 1997, would give bigger paychecks to 450,00 workers (about 12 percent of the workforce), the lawmakers said, adding that 29 states require wages higher than the federal minimum.
“Every year it costs more to buy the basic essentials of life, but the minimum wage has stayed the same,” Whipple said.
Hugh Keogh, president of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, said Tuesday that the commonwealth’s minimum wage should not increase above the federal level because the higher hourly rate would hurt local businesses’ ability to compete with out-of-state firms that can pay workers less.
A minimum-wage increase does have some Republican support. Del. Vincent Callahan, R-McLean, proposed a bill during the 2006 session that would have boosted the minimum wage by $2 over two years, but it died in a subcommittee.
Still, the new bill faces an uphill climb in the GOP-controlled General Assembly. Del. Harvey Morgan, R-Gloucester, who chairs the House committee that considers wage bills, said Tuesday he remains opposed to the measure.
