WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama will announce during the State of the Union that he will sign an executive order that raises the federal minimum wage for federal contract workers to $10.10 an hour, CBS News reports.
The measure affects only future contracts, not existing ones, and would only apply to contract renewals if other terms of the agreement changed.
The current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.
It’s estimated the change will affect 2 million workers, including janitors, construction workers and people who cook and clean for the military.
The White House says contractors will have time to take the higher minimum wage into account when pricing their bids.
The issue dovetails with what will be Obama’s broader call for an increase in the national minimum wage to $10.10 and for future increases to be tied to inflation. Obama last year had called for an increase in the minimum wage to $9.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report. Follow @WTOP on Twitter.
