The Associated Press reports the highest minimum wages will be in Washington, California, and Connecticut, all of which will top $16 an hour after modest increases.
The largest increases are scheduled in Delaware, where the minimum wage will rise by $1.75 to $15 an hour.
In Nebraska, where a ballot measure was approved by voters in 2022, the minimum wage here will add $1.50 to the current minimum of $12 an hour.
The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, or $15,000 annually, for a 40-hour work week. It has not been increased since 2009.
Advocates for a higher minimum wage argue it needs to be increased to help people make ends meet, which is one reason some states and cities tie their minimum wage to rising inflation.
Gretchen Baldau, of American Legislative Exchange Council, says there is often a decrease in entry-level jobs when the minimum wage increase. Some minimum-wage workers also lose their jobs.
"California raised their minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 an hour,” Baldau recalls, “and last time I checked, the fast-food industry had a net job loss in California.”
The effect of California’s $20-an-hour salary was hotly debated. A study by the Hoover Institute warned of job losses even before the law took effect but economists at liberal Berkeley claimed the state experienced only net-positive changes.
In reality, about 6,000 fast food jobs were lost and many restaurants shut their doors in California, according to a National Review story that cited federal job numbers.
California voters also rejected a Nov. 5 ballot measure, Proposition 32, to raise the state’s minimum wage from $16 to $18 an hour.
Saying she understands the motivation to pay hourly workers more, Baldau says governments should do a better job of examining their own policies that drive up the cost of living. They should make those changes, she argues, rather than requiring private businesses to increase their payroll costs.
"How about we focus more on those factors contributing to groceries and energy and everyday living costs?" she says.
