D.C. to vote on $11.50 minimum wage

D.C. workers would get a pay boost under a proposal set to raise the local minimum wage to $11.50 over three years.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

City lawmakers are scheduled to vote to increase the District minimum wage to $11.50 an hour from the current $8.25. The hikes would be phased in over three years, starting at $9.50 in July 2014, and increase with inflation starting in 2017.

The federal minimum hourly wage is $7.25. President Obama campaigned on increasing it. Democratic proposals to raise it to just over $10 have gained little traction on Capitol Hill.

Related: The 'haves' and the 'have nots'

The federal rate serves as a bare minimum, but states or localities can go higher. It has not increased since 2009, when it settled at $7.25 under a pre-recession 2007 law.

Currently, nearly 20 states have a minimum wage above the federal level. New Jersey is set to join them in the new year, and a California law will increase the minimum wage to $10 by 2016.

In D.C., the move to raise the local minimum appears to have enough support to pass the expected Tuesday vote. Mayor Vincent Gray hasn't said whether he supports or opposes the latest legislation.

Last month, he proposed raising the minimum wage to $10 with no automatic increases, warning that going higher could hurt the District's economic competitiveness.

This marks the second attempt by D.C. lawmakers to increase the rate of pay for hourly workers. In August they passed a measure that would have required big-box retailers to pay no less than $12.50 an hour in combined wages and benefits. The bill attracted a high-profile public relations battle with Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), then was vetoed by the mayor in September.

Related: Minimum wage state-by-state

Unlike that measure, the bill up for vote on Tuesday would apply to nearly all workers.

Two neighboring counties in Maryland also recently moved to raise their local minimum wages to $11.50.

And across the country, lawmakers in several cities are taking the matter into their own hands.

Most notably, SeaTac, Washington -- home of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport -- voted by a small margin last month to raise the minimum wage there to $15. (A recount of that vote is expected.)

First Published: December 3, 2013: 9:32 AM ET

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