WASHINGTON -- The House's Democratic majority, exercising its new political power, approved yesterday the first increase in the federal minimum wage in a decade - from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over two years.
The measure heads to the Senate, where it is likely to be coupled with tax breaks for small businesses to win Republican votes in the narrowly divided chamber and secure President Bush's signature.
The minimum wage has been unchanged since 1997, the longest period without a raise since the first minimum wage was enacted in 1938.
Maryland - where the minimum wage is $6.15 an hour - is among 28 states with minimum wages that already exceed the existing federal rate.
An increase in the minimum wage was among the initiatives that House Democrats pledged to pass during their first 100 hours in power.
It was approved 315-116, with 82 Republicans joining 233 Democrats in voting for it. All the no votes were cast by Republicans.
The Maryland delegation's two Republicans split their vote. Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest joined the state's six Democrats in voting yes; Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett voted no.
"What a difference an election makes," said Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat who leads the House Education and Labor Committee.
Once the minimum wage is increased, he told his colleagues during the debate, "you dramatically change life for millions of people."
Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland said that workers relying on $5.15 an hour are "essentially living in poverty."
The White House said in a statement that an increase in the minimum wage should be tied to tax and regulatory relief "to help small businesses stay competitive and to help keep the economy growing."
Under the measure approved by the House and introduced in the Senate, the wage would climb to $5.85 60 days after the legislation is enacted, to $6.55 one year later and to $7.25 after another year.
The minimum wage, first enacted at the rate of 25 cents an hour as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal plan to pull the nation out of the Great Depression, has long been a rallying point for Democrats.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican, contended that employers would cut jobs and benefits to pay for a minimum wage increase.
"The truth is that mandated minimum wage increases hurt small businesses, thus impeding job creation and ultimately hurting the people it is designed to help," he said.
