After 20 years, Kansas finally passes minimum wage raise
By Owen Morris in News
Thursday, Mar. 26 2009 @ 10:00AM
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Well, School-House Rock style, the bill managed to get out of committee, get passed in the Kansas Senate and then overwhelmingly passed in the Kansas House. Now, after tweaks, it will wind up on Governor Sebelius' desk.
The bill ties Kansas' minimum wage to the federal level and would go into
effect January 1, 2010, when the federal minimum wage will be $7.25 per
hour.
According to the AP, the House kept certain parts of the current Kansas minimum wage law intact, such as allowing employers to pay workers under 20 years old $4.25 for their first 90 days of work. The bill doesn't affect the hourly wage of workers whose earnings are tip-based.
The former law allowed businesses that don't engage in interstate commerce and gross under $500,000 to pay less than minimum wage. Nearly all restaurants now accept credit cards -- meaning they engage in interstate commerce -- so they'd have to pay federal minimum wage no matter how much they gross.
When the bill passes it will end Kansas' tenure paying the second-lowest minimum wage in the nation and significantly raise the pay of more than 10,000 workers. There's no estimate of how many of those 10,000 plus workers are in the food and beverage industry but it's probably a healthy chunk and this is their win.
According to the AP, the House kept certain parts of the current Kansas minimum wage law intact, such as allowing employers to pay workers under 20 years old $4.25 for their first 90 days of work. The bill doesn't affect the hourly wage of workers whose earnings are tip-based.
The former law allowed businesses that don't engage in interstate commerce and gross under $500,000 to pay less than minimum wage. Nearly all restaurants now accept credit cards -- meaning they engage in interstate commerce -- so they'd have to pay federal minimum wage no matter how much they gross.
When the bill passes it will end Kansas' tenure paying the second-lowest minimum wage in the nation and significantly raise the pay of more than 10,000 workers. There's no estimate of how many of those 10,000 plus workers are in the food and beverage industry but it's probably a healthy chunk and this is their win.
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