How The Minimum Wage Debate Moved From Capitol Hill To City Halls

Once upon a time, minimum-wage debates were mostly the province of Congress and statehouses. These days, you're more likely than ever to hear these debates in your City Hall. The trend continued this week, when the Los Angeles City Council voted to raise the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour.

The second-largest city in America could soon join Seattle and San Francisco in the club of cities that have agreed to gradually raise their wages above $15 per hour. And these cities are part of a larger, recent wave of cities and counties setting their own minimum wages.

In the last few years, nearly two dozen local jurisdictions have decided to increase their minimum wages, according to data from the National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit organization that among other things advocates for higher minimum wages.

"Congress hasn't raised the minimum wage since several years ago, so right now states are doing what they can to boost wages for their residents, and the same thing with cities," Lathrop said.

The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour for most workers but has not been raised since 2009. When you adjust for inflation, that wage is well below the $1.60 hourly minimum in 1968 (adjusted for inflation, that's nearly $11 today).

Minimum Wages Are Rising In Cities Across the US - Read More at NPR

How The Minimum Wage Debate Moved From Capitol Hill To City Halls