Topeka ? Kansas’ state minimum wage of $2.65 per hour would increase to $7.50 per hour by Jan. 1, 2007 under a bill soon to be filed.

“The current minimum wage of $2.65 an hour shocks the conscience,” state Rep. Ted Powers, R-Mulvane, said. Powers promised he would introduce legislation increasing the minimum wage.

About 20,000 workers — mostly waiters and waitresses — earn the state minimum wage. The Kansas level is one of the lowest in the country.