In a surprise move, a House panel voted Tuesday for a hike in the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25, which would be the first increase in a decade.
But the move by the Appropriations Committee, as an amendment to a bill funding health and education programs, is likely to be stripped out when the measure comes to the House floor.
That's because the panel does not officially have jurisdiction over the issue, and Rep. Howard McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, said will strike the provision on the floor.
McKeon said he has no plans to move a stand-alone bill raising the minimum wage.
Seven Appropriations panel Republicans voted with Democrats to approve the wage hike on a 32-27 vote: John Sweeney and Jim Walsh of New York, Ray LaHood of Illinois, Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, Don Sherwood of Pennsylvania and Mike Simpson of Idaho.
"Now we'll see what they do with it." said Minority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who sponsored the wage hike, based on a bill by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., to raise the wage in three increments over two years. "We're going to make a very pointed issue out of this."
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