State Minimum Wage Laws
Building on our experience supporting the living wage movement, the Brennan Center provides legal and policy support to state-level campaigns to raise the minimum wage, either through legislation or ballot initiatives. In 2004 and 2006, voters in seven states passed minimum wage ballot initiatives with the help of the Brennan Center and its allies. In all, 31 states representing over 70% of the nation's workers have raised their minimum wages in recent years -- the highest to $8.07 per hour.In each state campaign, we focus on restoring the real value of the minimum wage, which continues to lag significantly behind its historic level. And we seek to improve minimum wage laws in other ways. We have helped seven states adopt automatic annual cost-of-living increases for their minimum wages - the best way to make sure that the wage floor keeps pace with inflation and does not erode over time. We have helped others close outdated loopholes in coverage that leave vulnerable workers such as home health aides, farmworkers and tipped workers unprotected. And we have helped states strengthen their systems and rules for wage enforcement to ensure that all workers receive the wages that they are owed.