Senate committee advances $15 minimum wage
A Senate committee advanced a proposal Wednesday to raise Louisiana’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.
The Senate Labor and Industrial Relations Committee also moved instruments that will extend the suspension of state laws that trigger higher taxes on employers and lower worker benefits when the unemployment trust fund’s balance is low.
Senate Bill 49 also calls for the minimum wage to be increased each year by the percentage increase in the federal government’s Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.
Louisiana doesn’t have a state minimum, so the federal wage floor of $7.25 an hour applies. Sen. Troy Carter, the New Orleans Democrat who authored the bill, said it would help many residents climb out of poverty and benefit the economy by giving low-wage workers more money to spend.