BATON ROUGE - Gov. John Bel Edwards' push to raise Louisiana's minimum wage has sputtered again in the Senate, leaving the state's lowest-wage workers to be paid at the federal rate of $7.25 per hour.

The Senate Finance Committee voted 7-3 Wednesday against the proposal sponsored by Sen. Troy Carter, a New Orleans Democrat. The vote split along party lines, with Democrats supporting the wage hike and Republicans opposing it.

Carter's bill would have boosted the minimum wage to $8 per hour in 2018 and to $8.50 an hour a year later.

Supporters said the wage increase would lift people out of poverty and make them less-reliant on government-financed services like food stamps. Opponents said the higher pay could harm businesses and force layoffs.