The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would raise the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025.
The Raise the Wage Act passed 231-199, mostly along party lines. All Alabama Republicans – Reps. Robert Aderholt, Bradley Byrne, Gary Palmer, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers and Mo Brooks - opposed the measure; Democrat Terri Sewell voted in favor of the bill.
The bill would increased minimum wage to $8.40 per hour this year then gradually over the next six years until it reached the $15 mark. After 2025, the bill would tie to median wages to account for inflation. It would also do away with the separate minimum wage standard for tipped employees.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Alabama is one of 18 states where workers earn at or below the federal minimum wage. Twenty-nine states have a minimum wage above the federal minimum and six states and Washington, D.C. already have bills in place to gradually raise the minimum wage until it reaches $15 per hour.
The bill now moves to the Republican-controlled Senate where is faces an uphill battle. It is believed Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell won’t take up the measure but if he did, and in the unlikely event it passed, President Donald Trump has vowed to veto.
The currently $7.25 minimum wage amount was set in 2009.