LOOKING IN ON: WASHINGTON

Wednesday, Aug. 2, 2006 | 7:38 a.m.

WASHINGTON - Backers of the November ballot initiative to raise Nevada's minimum wage have gone on the offensive over Capitol Hill's own 11th-hour minimum wage bill, which they say could deal a pay cut to the state's lowest wage earners.

The House bill won approval over the weekend before members adjourned for the August recess. The measure would increase the $5.15-an-hour federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade.

But it includes a provision that could reduce that wage for tip earners - who make up many of Nevada's gaming and hotel industry employees.

The bill passed as part of a broader Republican-backed package and is now before the Senate. On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada derided the bill as a farce because of the tips provision, and says it could end up hurting Nevada's 60,000 low-wage earners.

In Nevada and six other states, employers must pay workers no less than the minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. Their tips are gravy. Existing federal law does allow employers to reduce the minimum wage to as low as $2.13 an hour for workers who earn tips, but state laws in Nevada and elsewhere supersede the federal.

The new legislation, however, would change that. Employers could reduce minimum wages for workers earning tips in any state that raises the minimum wage above the federal level.

Nevada is poised to do just that. The state's voters overwhelmingly supported raising the minimum wage last year to $1 above the federal - and if they ratify that increase in the November election, the raise will become law.

The House bill would eat into that increase, which explains why the state's largest labor union sides with Reid and labor activists have been hitting the phones this week urging the Senate to say no - even though their Nevada workers are covered by union contracts and earn more than the minimum wage.

"We've expressed our disgust," said Pilar Weiss, political director for the Culinary Union. "Sen. Reid's absolutely right The lowest wage earners in the state are going to be going backward, not forward."

Congressional Democrats have tried unsuccessfully for years to raise the minimum wage. Today is the 10th anniversary of the last time the federal minimum wage was increased.

Republican Nevada Sen. John Ensign said he was inclined to support the bill, although his staff was still reviewing the details. He said that at his Nevada veterinary hospital, even kennel workers command more than minimum wage.

"It may not affect Nevada in any significant way," he said.

The federal bill would increase the hourly minimum wage by more than $2 over the next several years.

A parade of political heavyweights into Nevada has begun as Republicans and Democrats eye the seat of Rep. Jon Porter.

The two-term Republican will get an assist this month when House Majority Leader John Boehner joins him at a fundraiser on Aug. 28.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is expected in Las Vegas on Aug. 29 for a fundraiser for Tessa Hafen - an event boldly scheduled even before voters have spoken about Hafen's candidacy. She is but one of five Democrats on the primary ballot. The others are: Mark Budetich, Barry Michaels, Anna Nevenic and Freddie Warman.

Hafen is the heavy favorite to win in the Aug. 15 primary because, as Reid's former press secretary, she has enjoyed large fundraising support from her one-time boss - even if she has never held elective office.

Republicans and Democrats alike say the race is among the most competitive in the nation. The 3rd Congressional District is fairly evenly split between registered Republicans and Democrats.

Porter has the power of incumbency, but polls show Republicans are less popular with voters than Democrats this year - and Porter's chief accomplishment has been his faithful adherence to the House Republican agenda.

Bringing Boehner to Las Vegas - on the heels of a Las Vegas appearance on Porter's behalf last week of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich - makes it very difficult for the incumbent to distance himself from voter unhappiness with his party.

Porter's seat has been among the National Republican Congressional Committee's top 20 races since spring. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee highlighted Hafen early on as part of its Red-to-Blue program of candidates being supported this fall.

The district includes portions of Las Vegas and Henderson.