I'm all for minimum wage increases, but they should generally be tied to cost of living and inflation.
And yes, it should be far more fragmented than state-wide. There should be a premium for urban areas.
And yes, it should be far more fragmented than state-wide. There should be a premium for urban areas.
http://www.epi.org/blog/putting-9-minimum-wage-context/
"..if the minimum wage had kept pace with average wages—i.e., if minimum wage workers saw their paychecks expand at the same rate as the average worker—it would be about $10.50 today. If the minimum wage had kept pace with productivity[i]—i.e., the economy’s overall capacity to generate income— it would be almost $18.75 today. Finally, imagine if workers at the very bottom were seeing the same kind of raises as workers at the very top. If the minimum wage had gone up at the same rate as wages for the top 1 percent, it would be over $28 per hour."
The person in the story is using EPI's last number
You can see that the federal minimum wage peaked in real dollars in 1968 (not coincidentally, the heyday of labor) - since that time, capital won the class war and the real minimum wage has dropped, even though the nominal federal minimum went up.
If we kept up with that high point, the federal minimum should be something like 40% hire than it is, more like $12.50.