Competing minimum wage bills sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano and Speaker of the House Ben Lujan will both be heard in a House committee today.
Senate Bill 324 has already passed the Senate, but infighting between Democrats over particulars of how to raise the minimum wage led to Lujan introducing House Bill 759.
Both will be heard today in the House Labor and Human Resources Committee.
Both bills raise the state minimum wage to $7.50 per hour in two phases. Altamirano’s bill would raise the minimum wage to $6.50 per hour in 2008 and $7.50 per hour in 2009. Lujan’s implements each phase a year earlier.
Altamirano’s bill does not include indexing that would increase the minimum wage in the future to keep up with inflation, exempts agricultural workers and keeps cities and counties from passing their own wage increases, with the exception of those that have already done it –
Lujan’s bill, on the other hand, does include inflation indexing, doesn’t exempt agricultural workers and doesn’t keep cities and counties from increasing the minimum wage beyond the level set by the state.
Altamirano’s bill is backed by the governor, but the differences between the two bills are the same arguments that torpedoed
A prior version of this posting listed incorrect dates for the implementation of a wage increase proposed in each bill.