Pushing For Paid Leave And A Higher Minimum Wage, One State At A Time

After flying here from Baltimore on a late August afternoon, Labor Secretary Tom Perez hopped in a waiting SUV at the airport. He was headed to a Methodist church downtown, where he was set to meet with a dozen or so workers, all of whom make too little money to support their families without public assistance.

One by one, the workers rattled off their places of employment -- McDonald's, Wendy's, Checkers, Burger King, Dollar Tree -- and the meager wages they took home for their work. Almost invariably, the pay...