The issue is left over from the last session, when the House passed an increase but the Senate shunned it. Now the Senate is leading the move with a bill more palatable to Republicans but covering fewer young workers than last year's measure.
The issue is the only major legislation before state lawmakers this week as the 1997-98 session slowly gathers speed.
With the governor's State of the State address and presentation of the new budget out of the way, lawmakers can begin committee work on spending plans and open discussions on the first bills to start down the legislative pipeline.
The minimum-wage increase would mirror the increase in the federal minimum wage passed last year. The state minimum wage would apply only to companies that do not engage in interstate commerce and have gross receipts under $500,000 a year.
"This would bring us onto a level playing field with the federal level," said Sen. Loren Bennett (R-Canton,) the bill's sponsor.
He defended the Senate bill's higher age limit for the minimum wage. It would retain age 18 or older to qualify for the minimum wage.
To lower the wage - as the House bill does - to age 14 would entice youngsters to go to work instead of school, he said.
"We are forever condemning those individuals to a lifetime of minimum wages," he said.