Minimum wage wars.

• Position: STATESTATS

Congress hasn't raised the minimum wage since 1997 and increasingly, this contentious issue has become a state issue. Currently 15 states and the District of Columbia have state minimum wages that are higher than the federal minimum wage and 36 states considered bills this year to increase theirs.

About 2.2 million U.S. workers are paid at or below the federal minimum wage, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, using 2002 figures. Almost 600,000 earn the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour and more than 1.6 million earn less than that because they are not covered by minimum wage laws. The highest proportion of minimum wage jobs are found in retail, agricultural and service industries.

Advocates for increasing the minimum wage argue that it would benefit working families. Because the minimum wage does not go up automatically with inflation, it has not kept pace with the increased cost of living. According to the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, raising the minimum wage lifts families above the poverty line and has a ripple effect on wages across the board because employers will often also raise wages for those earning above the minimum wage when the minimum wage goes up. That benefits the economy by strengthening consumers' buying power.

Not so, say advocates of the business community. According to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, increases serve to remove the lowest rung on the economic ladder, as businesses eliminate jobs in response to the higher labor costs they face when the minimum wage goes up. That hurts the poorest Americans the hardest.

They maintain that minimum wage increases hobble the economy by increasing labor costs and dampening economic development. The result is higher unemployment, particularly among young, poor or unskilled workers.

As Congress is unlikely to raise the federal minimum wage any time soon, it's up to the states to balance the needs of both workers and employers.

During the 2005 legislative session, New Jersey raised its minimum wage...