Supporting a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage to $11 an hour, about 750 people packed a 10 a.m. public hearing at the Massachusetts statehouse on Tuesday, June 11. The vast majority of the people who spoke at the hearing supported the bill.

Among the bill's sponsors are representatives Peter Kocot of Northampton, Cheryl Coakley-Rivera and Benjamin Swan of Springfield, and Ellen Story of Amherst.

The bill is at:

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/188/House/H1701

Sometimes, the state legislature holds hearings in the Valley as well as in Boston. It has not held a hearing outside Boston for the minimum wage bill. “My understanding is there will be no more hearings on this,” Jon Weissman told the Valley Post. He runs the western Massachusetts chapter of www.jwj.org which supports the bill. Weissman urged people to contact their state legislators and ask them to support the bill.

A list of each state’s minimum wage is at:

www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm

Washington state is highest at $9.19 an hour. Some states have no minimum wage. In those states, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 applies.

The Walton family, which owns Wal-Mart, has more money than the bottom 40 percent of Americans combined. That’s according to:

www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jul/31/bernie-s/sanders...