House Bill Pins Wage Increase To Iraq Funding (WP)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/08/AR2007030802094.html

House Bill Pins Wage Increase To Iraq Funding

By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 9, 2007; Page D01

House leaders have added legislation raising the federal minimum wage to an emergency spending bill for the Iraq war. They hope to break a logjam with the Senate over the wage bill, a top Democratic priority that was once seen on Capitol Hill as a relatively easy compromise.

House leaders also hope the addition of the wage provisions will induce House liberals to vote for the $105 billion war package, which authorizes funds for Iraq while setting a timeline for withdrawal that would require combat operations to end by August 2008.

House Democrats unveiled the plan yesterday but did not release a draft of the legislation, saying that details were being worked out. According to Democratic aides, the proposal would increase the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour from $5.15 over two years and grant $1.3 billion in tax breaks for restaurants and other affected businesses.

FULL story at link.