Congressman Ciro Rodriguez co-sponsors minimum wage bill in the House

Congressman Ciro Rodriguez (photo)

The Democratic-controlled House voted Wednesday to increase the federal minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. The vote was 315-116, with more than 80 Republicans joining Democrats to pass it.

The measure, which now goes to the Senate, would raise the federal wage floor by $2.10 from its current $5.15 an hour in three steps over 26 months. The last increase was in 1997.

Organized labor pushed for the bill as badly needed assistance for the working poor.

The bill would raise the wage floor in three steps. It would go to $5.85 an hour 60 days after signed into law by the president, to $6.55 a year later and to $7.25 a year after that.

Co-sponsor of the House bill was Congressman Ciro Rodriguez.