Shawnee Dispatch

Topeka — Democrats have outlined proposals to increase the state's minimum wage and set higher wages on public works projects.

Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka and House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs of Kansas City had a Statehouse news conference Tuesday to unveil the measures. They said their proposals would help working-class families.

One proposal would boost the state's $7.25-an-hour minimum wage to $11.32 an hour over five years.

Another would require contractors on public projects to pay what's known as the prevailing wage in the local area for each job. The figure is set by the federal government, and critics say it typically follows union pay scales.

Republicans who control the Legislature resist such proposals and worry that they'll raise costs for businesses and for public projects.