Wis. senators split on minimum wage bill

U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson split on a procedural vote today as the Senate blocked a measure to raise the minimum wage.

The Senate voted 54-42 to override a GOP filibuster, falling short of the three-fifths majority needed to move the bill forward. The vote was largely along party lines, with only Bob Corker, R-Tenn., voting with Dems in favor of the motion.

The bill would have gradually raised the minimum wage from the current $7.25 per hour to $10.10 per hour, and index it to the inflation rate thereafter.

Baldwin, D-Madison, noted in a floor speech that it's been nearly seven years -- and a financial crisis -- since lawmakers last raised the minimum wage.

"It’s simple. The time is now to give hard working Americans a raise," Baldwin said. "We can do that if both parties work together to reward hard work, so an honest day’s work pays more."

Johnson, R-Oshkosh, countered the move would lead to job losses, calling it "Russian roulette for the working poor."

"About 16.5 million of them will get a raise, minus the higher prices they’ll pay because stores and restaurants will have higher labor costs," Johnson said. "But 500,000 of them will see their pay will fall 100 percent. It’s a game of chance they didn’t ask for."