Clinton To Sign 90-Cent Increase In Minimum Wage

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Aug. 20) -- President Bill Clinton will sign legislation this afternoon to boost the minimum wage for millions of American workers.

Clinton plans to sign the bill, which will increase the minimum wage to $4.75 an hour from its current $4.25 an hour, at 2 p.m. EDT on the South Lawn of the White House in a ceremony attended by Cabinet members, lawmakers and minimum-wage workers.

The raise for about 10 million workers will take effect on Oct. 1, and a second hike -- to $5.15 an hour -- goes into effect on Sept. 1, 1997. The increase is the first in five years.

The Republican-controlled Congress passed the bill -- a rare legislative victory for Democrats -- on Aug. 2. GOP leaders, particularly in the House, ardently opposed increasing the minimum wage as a jobs-killer, but moderate Republicans eventually forced a vote on the issue. The move was overwhelmingly popular with the public, and Republican leaders feared an election-year backlash if they blocked the increase.

Tax credit provisions sweetened the bill for businesses, making it more palatable to conservative Republicans. The bill passed both the House and Senate handily.

Today's signing is the first of three high-profile ceremonies on tap in the days before the start of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week. Clinton is expected to sign measures expanding access to health insurance and reforming welfare later this week.

CNN will carry today's signing ceremony live at 2 p.m. EDT.

Clinton To Sign 90-Cent Increase In Minimum Wage

Related Stories: