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An Ohio House committee on Tuesday advanced a measure that would block attempts to raise Cleveland's minimum wage to $15 per hour.

(Lisa DeJong, The Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS, Ohio--An Ohio House committee on Tuesday evening inserted language into a pet-store regulation bill that, if passed, would block next year's special election to raise Cleveland's minimum wage to $15 per hour.

The measure, which now faces a final vote Wednesday in the Ohio House Finance Committee before heading to the House floor, would prohibit Ohio communities from raising the minimum wage beyond the state's minimum wage rate, currently set at $8.10 per hour. Cleveland city officials have asked state lawmakers to pass legislation to forestall a special election on the wage hike, set for next May.

The proposal was one of several changes the committee made to Senate Bill 331, which seeks to set state standards for where pet stores can buy dogs and cats.

Raise Up Cleveland, the group advocating for a $15 minimum wage in the city, didn't respond to requests for comment Tuesday.