Ruthe Batulis of the DCR Chamber and David C. Olson of the Minnesota Chamber say 'the current legislative majorities seem determined to make doing business in our state as hard as possible.'
Bills asking lawmakers to raise the minimum wage by more than $3 have made their way to the floor. How much should the Legislature raise minimum wage, if at all, in one of the lowest-paid states in the country.
Minnesota lawmakers, during this period of slow, economic recovery, are taking up the debate of the amount of the state's minimum wage. Currently, both tipped workers and minimum wage workers can be paid as low as $6.15/hour, legally, in Minnesota. Most employers, though, abide by the Federal minimum wage, which is set at $7.25. Still, 6 percent of the state's workforce makes that amount, which analysts have said won't lift a worker or a family above the poverty line. Rep. Ryan Winkler of Golden Valley has introduced a bill to change that, moving Minnesota from one of the lowest minimum wage states in the nation to one of the highest. His bill hikes the state's minimum wage to $10.55/hr for high earners, or businesses that make more than $…
President Obama, in State of the Union address, called on Congress to elevate the federal minimum.
In his State of the Union talk Tuesday night, President Obama called for a minimum wage of $9 an hour—up from the current federal standard of $7.25. (In Minnesota, workers not covered by the federal minimum wage can make as little as $5.25 an hour. Click on the PDF thumbnail to see how minimum wage works in Minnesota.) Obama said a worker making the minimum wage earns $14,500 a year—below the “living wage” in many areas. “Obama also proposed indexing it to inflation, so that when the cost of living goes up, so do earnings,” reported Huffington Post. Said the president: “This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families. It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or …
11:43 am on Saturday, February 16, 2013
I have never understood why it is beneficial to make it illegal to hire at a low wage. If I can only pay $5/hour, and the person I am hiring is happy with $5/hour, no one is harmed. I get work done, and my employee gets the money he earned. It is only busybodies who think my employee would be better off with NO job who butt in and say it's unacceptable. The minimum wage does not force employers … more ›
Joshua
1:30 pm on Thursday, March 14, 2013
Like I said; if minimum wage does not match inflation, then it should be removed since it serves no purpose. more ›