General Assembly delays minimum wage hike until May 1
Free Press staff report | 4/23/2020, 6 p.m.
Forget a Jan. 1 raise for the Virginia minimum wage.
The $2.25 hourly wage increase from $7.25 to $9.50 is set to happen on May 1, 2021.
By narrow margins, the House of Delegates and state Senate on Wednesday accepted the recommendation of Gov. Ralph S. Northam to delay the wage hike for four months.
Despite howls from Democratic-supporting labor leaders, Gov. Northam made the recommendation to soften the impact on business owners, who reportedly are unable to bear the increased cost because they have been as hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic as the workers who would benefit from the pay hike.
The House voted 49-45 to delay the increase, according to the Legislative Information System. By Free Press deadline Wednesday evening, the House clerk’s office had not posted how the members present voted. Four Democrats reportedly joined Republicans, who opposed any increase.
In the Senate, Lt. Gov. Justin E. Fairfax cast the deciding vote to support the governor’s recommendation to push the wage increase to May after the members’ vote ended in a 20-20 tie.
If the delay recommendation had failed in either chamber, the wage hike would have become effective at the start of the new year.
