On Wednesday, Nevada became the most recent state to increase its minimum wage, when Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak signed legislation that would also begin the slow process of raising it from the current $7.25 an hour for workers receiving benefits and from $8.25 for those without benefits, beginning with an increase of 75 cents next year.
Hooray for Nevada. But the state’s action also highlights a bigger problem. If the national minimum wage is not raised by this Sunday — a highly unlikely event — it will mark the longest period between increases in the rate since Franklin Roosevelt first established a national floor on hourly wages during the Great Depression.