The Nation - News from April 7, 1989

Senate sponsors of legislation to raise the minimum wage ignored President Bush’s veto threat and pressed ahead with a plan to boost the hourly base wage to $4.55--30 cents more than Bush has said he would agree to. The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), won vital Southern Democratic support by agreeing to cut the final target of his bill from $4.65 an hour to $4.55 and add a provision allowing workers to be paid a sub-minimum wage for their first two months in the job market. Those changes are likely to be offered by Southern Democratic senators today. The agreement appears to give Kennedy more than enough votes to win passage of his plan, although a final vote likely will not come until next week.