It’s $9.50 an hour and may soon climb to $10.50 in 2008. The higher wage has helped some and hurt others, according to a USA Today story. It’s not clear whether the wage really helped one of the case studies:

For Ivan Cornejo, 18, the new wage has been a
big help. The Santa Fe Community College freshman received an immediate
raise at his part-time job as a store cashier and has since moved on to
work as a teller at a local bank branch, where he gets more hours.
Between the new wage and the additional hours, his take-home pay has
jumped from $125 to $360 a week. He now gives his parents, with whom he
lives in a three-bedroom home, $250 a month toward rent and food.

“It’s been a big change for me and most people I
know,” Cornejo says. “Now I can buy movies instead of renting. I can
buy books instead of getting them from the library.”

The ability to buy movies and pay for Dish Network are high on the
list of reasons to increase the minimum wage. Ed Crane of Cato weighs in. Roy Cordato already did.