House tax writers will consider more than $1.5 billion in small business tax cuts next week in hopes of freeing minimum wage legislation currently stuck in an impasse between the House and Senate.

The tax package is less than one-fourth the size of what the Senate passed last week, but it sets the stage for negotiations that could result in the first increase in the minimum wage in a decade. The legislation would raise the wage floor by $2.10 over two years to $7.25 an hour.