President Obama is using his executive power to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers, such as janitors, construction workers and other employees working in government contracted buildings from $7.25 an hour to $10.10.

During his State of the Union address Obama urged Congress to join the rest of the country and give America a raise.

“If you cook our troops’ meals or wash their dishes, you shouldn’t have to live in poverty,” Obama said in his speech.

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Obama is using what is called an executive order to push for the minimum wage increase, bypassing lawmakers in Congress who have opposed his agenda.

“I like the ruling, I like that minimum wage is going up,” Max Schmitz, a senior from Pana studying psychology, said.

However, Schmitz said he does not agree with how Obama has used his executive power to push the agenda.

“I disagree with him acting by himself,” he said. “I think there should be a system of checks and balances to keep one person from having too much power.”

The federal minimum wage has not seen an increase in four years. In 2007 the wage was $5.85 an hour and increased in increments of 70 cents per year until 2009 when it reached $7.25 an hour, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Establishment of the federal minimum wage falls under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. According to the FLSA, the act was issued, “To provide for the establishment of fair labor standards in employments in and affecting interstate commerce, and for other purposes.”

Mark Peterson, chair and teel professor of finance in the College of Business, said this increase could have a negative effect on business in the United States.

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“The costs of doing business are going to go up, and that necessarily means fewer jobs,” Peterson said. “Its unclear what effects that might have on business in general, but my guess is probably not good for small business.”

Kay Nelson, a professor of management in the College of Business, said she is interested to see what type of effect this will have on the economy after some time.

“I think it will be an interesting experiment to see the impact it does have on the economy,” Nelson said. “It is going to take at least a year to see what the numbers do but whether it is a positive or negative impact I think remains to be seen.”

Desiree Young, a senior from Champaign studying journalism, said she thought it was time for this increase and this should have already happened.

“I think that people should have been getting paid more then $7.25 an hour,” Young said.

According to an article in the Washington Post, an estimated 2 million Americans work on federal contracts, however the number of those workers receiving minimum wage is a small percentage of that.

Kyle Sutton can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @KyleSutton_de, or 536-3311 ext. 268.