Among the specific remedies Edwards mentioned were raising the $5.15 an hour minimum wage, unionizing service industry employees, cracking down on high-interest "payday lenders," increasing tax credits for the working poor, and creating government investment accounts that would match wage-earners' contributions. He also lauded a pilot program in North Carolina that pays for qualifying students who also work to attend college, and encouraged faith-based groups to fight teenage pregnancy that contributes to the cycle of poverty.

Georgia legislators passed a payday lending law in 2004, but also have prohibited municipalities from raising the minimum wage. Georgia also is a right-to-work state where employees can't be required to join unions, making workplaces difficult to organize.

Of Edwards' ideas, Davison said she wants to better promote the federal Earned Income Tax Credit for low-wage workers, and was intrigued by the matching investment accounts, which she said might be considered locally.