The minimum wage for workers under new federal contracts will be set at $10.10 an hour in an executive order signed by President Barack Obama, the White House said on Tuesday.
The president will announce the increase during his State of the Union address, the Associated Press reported.
Not meant to affect existing federal contracts, the increase from a national minimum wage of $7.25 an hour will only apply to the new ones. And unless other terms of the agreement change, contract renewals will not be affected.
According to the AP, the order would be one of the biggest examples in the State of the Union of Obama's vow to use presidential authority to push for policies by circumventing Congress.
Liberal groups and employee advocates have been pressurizing Obama to use his executive authority to raise the minimum pay for federal contractors. By limiting the increase to new contracts, the order would affect far fewer employees than if it applied to all government contractors.
"Still, the issue dovetails with what will be Obama's broader call for Congress to increase the national minimum wage to $10.10 and tie future increases to inflation," according to the AP. "Obama called last year for an increase in the minimum wage to $9. This year he is lending his support to legislation sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Rep. George Miller, D-Calif. Their bill also would raise the minimum wage for tipped workers for the first time in more than two decades."
Congressional action is not required to increase the wage for federal contractors.
Such a unilateral increase is bad policy that will hurt the people Obama says he wants to help by costing low-income people their jobs, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said on Tuesday.
Boehner said Obama took an oath to obey the Constitution and that Republicans will be watching to make sure he doesn't exceed his authority with other executive actions, the AP reported.
Federally contracted janitors and construction workers as well as workers on military bases who wash dishes, serve food and do laundry will benefit from the executive order, the White House said.
