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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A bill that would raise the minimum wage to $7 an hour died in a House committee Friday, but an identical bill sponsored by Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley City, will appear before a Senate committee next week.
Mayne said Rep. Neil Hansen, D-Ogden, sponsored House Bill 313 for him in case the Senate didn't have time to hear his bill. But that changed this week and Mayne skipped the House hearing. Mayne said public testimony won't be limited to two minutes when a Senate committee hears the identically worded Senate Bill 43 next week.
"Today's a dress rehearsal for the big show Tuesday," Mayne said.
The debate Tuesday will likely focus on the same issues it did Friday, with advocates for the poor saying the wage needs to be raised to help people off poverty. Businesses say the market should dictate wages and that it would put them in danger of firing employees to make up for the additional costs.
If Utah were to raise the minimum wage above the federal minimum of $5.15 an hour, it would join 17 other states and the District of Columbia in doing so. It would also be the fifth highest minimum wage in the country.
------ On the Net: http://www.le.state.ut.us/ 7/82006/bills/hbillint/hb0313.htm
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
