by Hans Bader
On January 28, a subcommittee in Virginia’s House of Delegates apparently voted 5-to-3 to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15, and to eliminate some longstanding exemptions to the minimum wage. The vote was along party lines.
The House’s bill is harsher on employers than the companion bill in the state Senate. On Jan. 27, the Senate’s Commerce and Labor Committee voted to gradually raise Virginia’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $15, or to $11.75 for employers that provide health insurance.
Blue Virginia makes clear that the House subcommittee voted for a uniform $15 minimum wage, unlike the Senate. But the Legislative Information System doesn’t contain the text of the bill at the time of this writing.
Here is what the legislative website gives me when I click on the link for the amended bill:
I discussed earlier how a $15 minimum wage would put added pressure on the state budget, and would likely eliminate large numbers of jobs.
Here is how the legislative website describes the House bill as introduced:
Minimum wage. Increases the minimum wage from its current federally mandated level of $7.25 per hour to $9 per hour effective July 1, 2020; to $11 per hour effective July 1, 2021; to $13 per hour effective July 1, 2022; and to $15 per hour effective July 1, 2023, unless a higher minimum wage is required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. The measure also provides that the Virginia minimum wage applies to persons whose employment is covered by the FLSA and to public employees.
