Michigan becomes seventh state this year to raise minimum wage, By Eric Morath, May 28, 2014, Wall Street Journal: “Michigan has become the first Republican-controlled state to join a recent wave of local minimum-wage increases, marking a potential shift in the battle over the issue heading into the November elections. Lawmakers on Tuesday approved an increase to $9.25 an hour from $7.40 by 2018 in Michigan, setting one of the highest pay floors in the Midwest. The deal was an effort to quash a potential ballot proposal for a larger increase that also would have nearly quadrupled mandated pay for tipped restaurant workers. The maneuver suggests Republicans at the state level may be willing to accept smaller, more tailored minimum-wage increases to blunt demand . . .”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty