States not waiting for Congress to raise minimum wage, By Emily Jane Fox, March 6, 2014, CNNMoney: “In his State of the Union address, President Obama urged mayors, governors and state legislators not to wait for Congress to raise the minimum wage, and to take action into their own hands. And local politicians have been doing just that. Hawaii’s Senate Tuesday passed a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $8.20 per hour by January 2015, and by 2017 to $10.10, the amount that President Obama backed in his address to the nation. Hawaii’s current minimum wage is set at the federal level of $7.25 per hour and the bill now goes to the House for approval…”
Day: March 6, 2014
Assistance Programs and Drug Testing
Some states still pushing drug testing for welfare, By Jake Grovum, March 6, 2014, Stateline: “From written tests designed to flag drug users to singling out people with recent drug convictions, state lawmakers across the country are pursuing novel strategies to deny welfare benefits to drug users without running afoul of a recent federal court ruling. In December, a federal judge in Florida struck down the state’s drug-test requirement. But almost half the states are considering drug-testing bills designed to withstand legal scrutiny. In Alabama, Indiana and Mississippi, such measures already have advanced by overwhelming majorities…”