Continued: Pawlenty chides minimum wage bill

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A bill that would raise Minnesota's minimum wage is headed for the desk of Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who called it "overbaked" and said the House version approved Thursday "overreaches."

The bill would increase the current $6.15-an-hour minimum wage for large employers by 75 cents in July and by another dollar next summer. For small employers, the $5.25-an-hour wage would go up 50 cents in July and another dollar next year.

"I would like it to be more, but I want the governor to sign this bill," said Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia and the bill's sponsor.

Pawlenty reserved most of his ire for a provision that would, after next year, automatically increase the minimum wage to keep pace with the national inflation rate. He said such a formula would be unprecedented in Minnesota.

"I would like to sign a minimum wage bill if we could get it fixed because within reason I believe those are a good thing to do from time to time," he said. In 2005, Pawlenty signed a $1-an-hour increase in the minimum wage.

He held out hope that a bill more acceptable to him will emerge from a conference committee, where technical differences between the House bill and a Senate version approved last year must be resolved.

Labor and Industry Commissioner Steve Sviggum plans to represent Pawlenty during the conference committee deliberations.

"I hold out hope we can come to a mutually cooperative agreement, rather than confrontation," Sviggum said. "The governor's administration will certainly cooperate to get us to a point of common ground."

As for the bill passed by the House, "not this one," Sviggum said.

The increase was opposed by the trade organization representing small-business owners and Republican legislators, arguing it would squeeze small businesses, forcing them to close or lay off employees.

A 2005 study by the Department of Labor and Industry found that an estimated 49,000 Minnesotans earned the minimum wage or less, representing 2 percent of the state's wage-and-salary workers.

Minnesota's minimum wage is tied for the 32nd highest in the nation. The federal minimum wage is set to increase from $5.85 an hour to $6.55 in July.

Staff writer Mark Brunswick and the Associated Press contributed to this report. Bob von Sternberg • 612-673-7184

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Governor: Tim Pawlenty
One of only a few prominent Republicans to win a competitive re-election contest in the Democratic sweep of 2006, Tim Pawlenty is widely seen as politically shrewd and naturally likable.

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