$9.80 Minimum Wage Sought by Idaho Group

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A group of religious, education and community activists is pushing for a ballot initiative that would raise Idaho's minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.80 an hour over the next four years.

The Spokesman-Review reports the group rallied Saturday morning in Coeur d'Alene's Riverstone Park. The group's leader, Anne Nesse, unsuccessfully ran for the Legislature last fall. Nesse said she knows the group has a steep hill to climb — a similar proposal from Rep. Phylis King, D-Boise, failed to pass out of committee earlier this year.

But Nesse said her proposal is modest, and if approved the minimum wage would be $8.10 in 2015, less than the federal bump to $9 an hour proposed by President Barack Obama in his State of the Union address this year.