Jennie Lissarrague and Stephen Tellier * September 22, 2015
The Minneapolis City Council has agreed to investigate whether to boost the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour.
At a meeting Tuesday morning, the council agreed to hire an outside company to conduct a study of the impact a minimum wage increase would have on Minneapolis, as well as Hennepin and Ramsey counties. The study will examine a $12 minimum wage, as well as a $15 minimum wage, and would cost $150,000.
The hope is that it would be completed by next spring.
If a $15 minimum wage is eventually approved, Minneapolis would join the likes of Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
If the city council fails to approve a higher minimum wage by early next year, a national group called 15Now will begin pushing for a ballot question, asking voters to decide the issue next November.
Meanwhile, the minimum wage across Minnesota currently stands at $9 an hour. It will rise to $9.50 next summer.