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| published Friday, March 24, 2006 |
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House State Affairs Committee goes through motions, kills minimum wage increase
Press Release - Idaho Community Action Network - March 23, 2006
Contact: Sam Blair, 208-283-0704
Boise.—Members of the Idaho Community Action Network (ICAN) turned out to the Statehouse this morning to testify in support of a proposal to raise Idaho’s minimum wage by $1 and index it to inflation. Despite strong testimony in support of the proposal, the House State Affairs Committee voted 12-5 to hold the bill in committee.
“By voting against this proposal, the legislators have spoken,” said Kathryn McNary of Caldwell. “They’ve spoken, and what they’ve said is over 32,000 Idaho workers aren’t worth $6.15 an hour. I think it’s too bad our lawmakers hold such a low opinion of the people they are supposed to represent.” According to a research memo of the Department of Commerce and Labor from September 2005, about 5.7 percent of Idaho’s work force, or roughly 32,100 Idaho workers, would be impacted by an increase in the minimum wage to $6.15 an hour.
While some representatives of business and restaurant interests testified with concerns about impacts on employment, prominent groups of economists such as the Council of Economic Advisors have concluded that, “the weight of the evidence suggests that modest increases in the minimum wage have had very little or no effect on employment” (1999 Economic Report to the President). In fact, research conducted by the Fiscal Policy Institute (www.fiscalpolicy.org) documents faster growth in small business establishments and employment in states with higher than the federal minimum wage between 1998 and 2001.
ICAN Board member Karen McWilliams presented findings from the Northwest Job Gap Study: Living Wage Jobs in the Economy released in January. This study found that for a family of four with both parents working, the combined family living wage is $26.49. “That’s more than five times our current minimum wage,” said McWilliams. “So even if each parent works two full-time minimum wage jobs, they’re still going to fall far short… unless we do away with those pesky child labor laws and put the kids to work, too. Of course, that would be an assault on our standard of living, a betrayal of our values, and an insult to our state pride. But shouldn’t leaving families to toil in poverty be considered in the same light?”
“I see this as an issue of family and community values,” said Anna Matthews, who also testified. “A May 2005 study found 86 percent of the public favored increasing the minimum wage, including 79% of social conservatives. With such overwhelming public support on all sides, there is no excuse for inaction.”
One member of the committee said he did not see the connection between family values, supporting working Idaho families, and raising the minimum wage. “They were just going through the motions," said Ron Matthews, who attended the hearing. "Most of the people who testified were in solid support of this proposal, but the members of this committee didn’t really listen – they were just going through the motions.”
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