Congress is debating raising the federally mandated minimum wage from $4.25 an hour to $5.15 or $5.25. But the deceptively named living wage movement, which wants government to order wages raised even higher, is spreading -- backed by unions and coalitions of community groups and religious organizations.

The immediate target of living wage laws is private firms with government contracts.

• Baltimore, Milwaukee and Santa Clara, Calif., have already enacted laws requiring contractors to pay workers more than the federal minimum wage.

• More than 20 other cities -- including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago -- and several states are considering it.

• Baltimore, for example, began requiring city contractors to pay their employees at least $6.10 per hour in 1994, and this will rise automatically to $6.60 on July 1, 1996 and to $7.70 in 1998.

Unions like the idea because it reduces the difference between union wages and nonunion (market) wages, increasing their ability to compete for city contracts. Others view it at as a costless anti-poverty effort. The city of Baltimore, for example, estimates it will only cost the city $3.5 million per year after 1998, less than 1 percent of the city's annual budget.

Some critics suggest the primary aim is to halt privatization efforts. For example, the New York City Council is considering a compromise that applies only to contracts for security, food service, cleaning and temporary work -- the areas where the city has been contracting out the most.