The Dominican Senate approved last night, after certain modifications and just one reading, a 30% increase in the minimum wage for public servants and private employees. Nineteen of the twenty senators present in the chamber voted affirmatively on the measure. The PLD’s Senator Jose Tomas Perez (Santo Domingo) abstained. Perez had proposed that the legislation be sent to a joint committee that would work together with the Executive Branch to find a way to include more than just the minimum wage earners. The special commission that had studied the original bill, as headed by Tommy Duran (PRD-Puerto Plata), gave a favorable report to the full chamber. The new pay raises for government minimum wage earners will go into effect in January.