Minimum Wage Passes US Senate

This just in: the US Senate has voted to raise the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. The only kicker is that the Senate version, unlike the House version, contains some tax breaks and other benefits for small businesses and others that will be disproportionately (and negatively) impacted by the higher mandated wage.
Assuming that this legislation is passed and passed quickly — I doubt it will take more than a week or two — it will be interesting to see whether New Mexico’s Legislature decides to go along with Governor Richardson’s demand for a $7.50 an hour wage. It would certainly make sense to simply go along with the new federal wage rate, but sometimes things just don’t make sense here in New Mexico.