America's fastest-growing workforce fears the clock is running out (Bloomberg)

In December, the Obama administration said it would close a loophole that excluded babysitters and “companions” for the old and infirm from receiving minimum wage. Six months later, the loophole remains, and home care workers are concerned it won’t happen if Obama doesn’t win in November. Mitt Romney hasn’t taken a position on the rule, but 13 Republican senators introduced a bill to preserve the exemption. Bill Clinton proposed a similar rule change before leaving office, but George W. Bush said it would increase Medicaid costs by an estimated $250 million a year, and scrapped it. A home care worker sued for back pay, but the Supreme Court ruled in 2007, that it was up to the Department of Labor to change the rules. Today, the median annual wage for home care workers is $19,640.