Dems have finally figured it out

With a national $15 minimum hourly wage still out of reach, blue states are mounting an offensive to fill the void.

New Jersey this month joined three other states in raising its hourly minimum wage to $15, Illinois is poised to follow next week, and more states are waiting in the wings.

It’s all part of an effort to leverage Democratic midterm election gains to advance the so-called Fight for $15 and increase pay for some of the lowest-paid workers even if the federal government won’t.

  Politico

I can't give them too much credit, nor any for "doing the right thing", because Dems could have done it before Trump and didn't. They're not simply leveraging midterm gains. That would suggest some federal push. They're doing it in the states where they could have done it at any time. I'm sure they see it now as a way to pull more votes from independents and maybe even win over some Republican votes. If red state voters are suffering financial hardships while blue state voters are gaining, then it's a very good bet.

The New Jersey law, signed this month by Gov. Phil Murphy, will gradually raise the state’s minimum wage for most workers from the current $8.85 an hour to $15 by 2024 (the first increase, to $10, takes effect in July).

[...]

In Illinois, the state Senate approved legislation Feb. 7 to raise the state’s minimum wage from $8.25 to $15 over six years. Conservatives balked, wanting a lower wage for more rural parts of the state, where the cost of living is less. But with Democrats controlling the Legislature and a newly elected Democrat in the governor's mansion, the House passed the bill just seven days later. It heads to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk Tuesday — a day before his first state of the budget address on Feb. 20.

[...]

New Jersey’s approval of $15 after a year of wrangling has Democrats in other states taking notes on how the Garden State got it done. Party leaders in Illinois fast-tracked a $15 minimum wage bill this month, and in Connecticut, legislation is expected to reach Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont’s desk in the coming months.

While the effort by individual states is a patchwork approach, it could be the best recipe for achieving a $15 minimum wage. With President Donald Trump in the White House and Republicans controlling the Senate, the odds of enacting a federal $15 minimum hourly wage remain slim.

Not if McConnell feels the pressure. The odds become considerably greater when he sees GOP power slipping in the states. His only move then would be for red states to lure employers out of blue states. And I have no doubt they'll attempt that first.  The GOP doesn't even care that higher wages mean more spending (and more taxes for the state coffers).  Forget optimization economics, they want to allow their corporate donors to pocket the maximum profit.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.