A little more than minimum wage bill passes
The much-discussed minimum wage hike passed the House this afternoon. If the Senate were to agree to the House measure, it would raise the state's minimum wage 85-cents to $6 per hour.
The wage hike was well short of the $1 increase the House rejected as a stand alone measure this year. This version was tacked on to a bill that would give small businesses - those with fewer than 25 employees - a tax break for giving workers health insurance.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
It was pushed by Rep. Alma Adams, a Greensboro Democrat. She has filed similar bills every session since she's been a House member, starting in 1994. This is the year that the bill's gotten a debate, much less an affirmative vote.