House votes for minimum Wage

By Richard Cowan and Donna Smith

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives voted on Saturday to give some of the lowest-paid American workers their first raise in nearly a decade, while also handing a big tax cut to some of the wealthiest.

The House in the early hours voted 230-180 to raise the $5.15-per-hour minimum wage in three 70-cent steps until it reaches $7.25 in mid-2009.

During a bitter floor debate, Rep. Phil English, a Pennsylvania Republican, said most Democrats' opposition to the bill showed "they've always liked the politics of the minimum wage and cared little for the policy of the minimum wage." But Democrats shot back that Republicans had staged an election-year stunt to get a minimum wage vote knowing the Senate won't go along because of opposition there to the estate tax cut. And some senators are opposed to any minimum wage hike.

Before this election year, Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat said, "You never raised a finger to help these individuals" getting paid the minimum wage.

Coming shortly before the House was to start a five-week summer break that will give members time to campaign for re-election, the legislation also would cut estate taxes, derided by Republicans as a "death tax," and extend several other popular tax cuts. Its estimated cost was about $310 billion over 10 years.

The package is likely to be debated next week in the Senate, where its fate was unclear. Efforts to roll back estate taxes failed in the Senate in June. Such a cut is a high priority for Republican leaders ahead of the November congressional elections when Democrats hope to make big gains.