BATON ROUGE, La. – The Democratic Party’s majority takeover in the Congressional election earlier this month may also be a victory for low-income workers and college students in the near future. Among fixing issues surrounding college affordability for low-income students and providing adequate health care, raising the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 is a top priority for the new Democratic Senate.

Minimum wage has been a stagnant factor of the American economy for more than eight years, staying at a constant rate of $5.15 since 1997. A minimum wage worker who works full time at 40 hours a week for 52 weeks a year earns $10,700 annually, which is almost $6,000 below the federal line of poverty guidelines of $16,600 for a family of three.

But Sen. Edward Kennedy, who has been fighting for years to pass an increased minimum wage, said it is time to for working-class Americans to reach new economic heights — ones that will eventually help them escape poverty.

“America has spoken, and the new Congress will listen,” Kennedy said in a news release. “If there’s one message from this election that emerged loud and clear on a domestic issue, it’s minimum wage. No one who works for a living should have to live in poverty.”

If the bill is passed early next year, the rate is set to increase gradually, Kennedy said.

It will rise to $5.85 within 60 days after enactment, to $6.55 one year later and to $7.25 one year after that.

According to the Center for Budget Priorities, nearly 15 million Americans would benefit from a minimum wage increase to $7.25 an hour.

The bill has faced tough opposition in the past by Republicans, who held the majority in Congress before this election. And the Republicans have received criticism because Congress continues to get raises while the low-income workers have not received a minimum wage raise in more than eight years.

According to a press release from Kennedy’s office, Congress has voted itself seven pay raises since 1997. The Senate raised its pay by $3,100 this year and is set to receive an additional $3,000 raise in 2007.

But while many Americans think the time for a minimum wage raise is long overdue, some think it will cause more harm than good if legislation is officially passed.

Critics of the bill said the raise in wages will cause employers to cut job openings in order to compensate for the increase.

Studies have shown that states, including Oregon, Washington and Alaska, who have raised their state minimum wage have not experienced an unemployment increase.

A recent Gallup poll found that 86 percent of small business owners do not think minimum wage affects their business, and three out of four small businesses said that a 10 percent increase in minimum wage would have no effect in their company.

About 80 percent of adults would benefit from the raise, and many college students working to provide for themselves will reap the benefits.

But some Louisiana State University students, like Aaron Broussard, electrical engineering junior, said the raise may be too much too soon.

“I feel like it should be raised. But I don’t think it should be raised an entire $2,” Broussard said. “Too many of us would lose jobs. Many places hire college students at minimum wage because they can afford to hire a lot of us.”

Broussard said while $2 may be too much, a $1 raise in minimum wage would probably suffice and not have a grave effect on the economy.

“I work on campus, and I started out at minimum wage. But now my job is starting students off at like $6 an hour,” Broussard. “They have not had to fire anyone because of that dollar raise, so that’s why I say raising it to $6.15 would probably be fine.”

Westley Bayas, history senior, said $7.25 may be enough for college students to live on but is not sufficient for someone providing for their family.

“Of course this raise will help college students; we don’t have families to raise yet. But raising the wage to $7.25 is still not enough. Raising it to $10 an hour still would not be enough. If you do the math, making $10 an hour only gives you $1,600 a month. That is not enough to take care of a family,” Bayas said. “You have your opposition that says raising it will hurt the economy, but it really won’t. The money is put in the hands of workers, and they eventually spend the money to help the country’s economy.”