Louisiana State Capitol
A Louisiana Senate Committee advanced a bill Thursday to establish the state minimum wage at $15 per hour.
Louisiana is one of only five states with no minimum wage of its own, so the state’s lowest earners’ wages are tied to the federal rate of $7.25 per hour. That hasn’t been raised since 2009 and has failed to keep pace with the cost of living.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, an estimated 695,000 Louisianans would get a raise if the bill becomes a law.
That’s a big if. The proposed wage increase cleared the Labor and Industrial Relations Committee on a party-line vote with the committee’s three Democrats voting in favor of the bill and its two Republicans voting against it.