Minority Democrats in the Ohio Legislature have re-introduced a bill raising the state's minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour.
Voters in 2006 approved a ballot measure setting the wage at six-dollars-85-cents, indexed for inflation. But Michael Shields with left-leaning think tank Policy Matters Ohio says that doesn't cover the cost of living for many families. His group's research shows minimum-wage workers earn 28-percent less than their counterparts in 1968, when wages were at their peak value.
Opponents of House Bill 34 say it would be costly for business and result in job losses. But Shields says most studies show little effect on job numbers.
The measure would effect an estimated two million Ohioans. It is not likely to pass out of the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
