Although a proposal to increase the minimum wage in Nevada won support at the polls last year, numerous business representatives told a Senate panel Tuesday the electorate was ill-informed.

Democratic and union proponents often cited the will of the people in seeking immediate enactment of the ballot initiative, but restaurateurs and franchisees told the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee to wait until they could embark on an education campaign.

"The voters may get another chance at this," warned Mary Lau of the Retail Association of Nevada.

Democratic leaders in both houses stumped for approval of Assembly Bill 87, a measure which would legislatively enact the "Give Nevadans a Raise" initiative that passed with 68 percent of the vote statewide last year. The bill calls for a $1 increase in the minimum wage -- to $6.15 an hour -- with an exemption for businesses that provide health care. It also ties future increases to annual increases in the federal consumer price index.

"This would at least get our people their money a year earlier," said Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas.

Without the bill, the initiative must receive a majority of votes in the 2006 general election to pass.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus asked the committee members to imagine living on minimum wage.

"It's fair; it's morally right; it's what the people said they wanted and it's good for business," she said of the increase.

But a panel of restaurant owners from Las Vegas, convened by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, said the indexing portion of the measure would result in higher prices to consumers and, possibly, business closures.

"I don't know how much you know falafel," testified Turkish-born Paymon Rauof, owner of Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe in Las Vegas. "But how much is it I can charge for a sandwich."

Rauof, who started his Maryland Parkway eatery 17 years ago, recently opened a second restaurant on West Sahara Avenue with a $1 million loan.

"I was going to open another location in Green Valley, but as soon as I heard about this bill, I stopped," he said.

David Alenik, chef with the Pasta Shoppe & Ristorante, said that while all of his nontip employees make more than the minimum wage, a $1 increase for the lowest-paid workers would result in the other workers seeking an extra buck.

"We'll have to bump up the saut cooks," Alenik said. "Labor accounts for about 30 to 35 percent of my costs."

Robert Ansara, general manager of Ricardo's Mexican restaurants, said his eateries serve "working families."

"I'm concerned we'll get to the point someday where people just can't afford a taco," Ansara said.

State Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, interrupted the panel to again cite the will of the people. She turned to fellow committee member and state Sen. Joe Heck, R-Henderson, and said the initiative got 13,000 more votes in his district than Heck did last year.

But Ansara said, "I don't think a lot of education went on before this went to the ballot."

Committee Chairman Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, told Titus, Giunchigliani and Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, he couldn't understand how Southern Nevadans can buy a house given the current market forces, let alone make ends meet on minimum wage.

He was also highly complimentary of two witnesses -- minimum wage earners in the food and beverage industry in Reno -- presented by the AFL-CIO.

The bill passed the Assembly 33-8-1, with eight Republicans voting to side with the Democratic majority.