Gov vetoes minimum wage bill

DFL Sen. Ellen Anderson just held a news conference saying Gov. Pawlenty vetoed the minimum wage bill. This was not a surprise since the governor said he had concerns about the size of the increase and a tip credit. Anderson said the governor let people down who are trying to make ends meet.

We haven't received the veto letter yet but will update when we do.

In his veto letter, Pawlenty wrote:

"As the Legislature addressed the state minimum wage again this year, I was very clear that I would support a reasonable increase to the state minimum wage, provided that the bill included an acceptable tip credit. A tip credit allows an employer to pay a slightly lower minimum wage to employees whose jobs include the reciept of significant earnings through tips. Unfortunately, the authors of the bill chose to ignore my concerns and passed a bill that increases the minimum wage to more than 50 percent above the the 2005 rate and does not include a tip credit for tipped employees."

He added that he's willing to consider a bipartisan minimum wage bill next session if it allows for a reasonable increase, creates a tip credit and does not unduly burden Minnesota's employers.