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BATON ROUGE — The state Senate has voted down a bill that would have raised the minimum wage in Louisiana to above the federal standard.
The Senate voted 21-17 against the bill, which would have raised Louisiana’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $8 an hour in 2019 and $8.50 an hour in 2020.
State Sen. Troy Carter, a New Orleans Democrat, sponsored the bill.
“We are all Louisianians, and there is not a single one of us in this chamber — not one — that doesn’t have people in our district that would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage,” Carter said, according to The Advocate.
No one spoke against the proposal at the Legislature, but business groups have opposed it.
Here’s a breakdown of how New Orleans area senators voted:
- John Alario, R-Westwego – Nay
- Wesley Bishop, D-New Orleans – Yea
- Conrad Appel, R-Metairie – Nay
- Troy Carter, D-New Orleans – Yay
- “Norby” Chabert, R-Houma – Nay
- Jack Donahue, R-Mandeville – Nay
- Sharon Hewitt, R-Slidell – Nay
- Daniel Martiny, R-Metairie – Yea
- Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton – Nay
- JP Morrell, D-New Orleans – Yay
- Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans – Yea
- Gary Smith, D-Norco – Yea
