Minnesota’s minimum wage goes up 50 cents an hour today, to $9.50 an hour at large employers and $7.75 at small employers. It’s the third of three increases put into law in 2014, and beginning in January 2018 the rates will be annually indexed to inflation. Bill Blazar with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce warns employers on tight margins with increasing competition could be forced to cut jobs or even close shop. Blazar argues a job that pays a modest wage is better than no job at all. Former State Representative Ryan Winkler, who sponsored the minimum wage increase, calls that a scare tactic: “What we’ve actually seen is that low-wage industries have seen their wages rise as the minimum wage has gone up, and we’ve seen employment grow at the same time.” Opponents warn that could change if the economy goes soft.
The Minnesota Chamber’s Blazar argues there are ways to make sure families get a living wage, without hurting the businesses that pay them. “We could raise the low income credit, so that Minnesotans with lower wages have less tax liability,” he says, or the state could even institute a negative income tax. Winkler doesn’t like the idea and says, “these businesses who want taxpayers to help support their employees because they won’t pay them enough to live on, are asking for a taxpayer subsidy — they’re asking for a form of welfare from everybody else in order to help run their business.”
Meanwhile top Democrats are praising the minimum wage increase. In a statement, Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith says, “Today, nearly 300,000 hardworking Minnesotans will see their incomes increase, putting more money in the pockets of families paying for child care, groceries and a roof over their heads.” But Smith adds, “We have more work to do to build an economy that works for all Minnesotans, everywhere in our state, not just those already at the top. More than half of minimum-wage workers are women; raising the minimum wage improves the lives of thousands of Minnesota families.”
Listen to MNN reporter Bill Werner’s interview of Bill Blazar with the Minnesota Chamber:
Listen to Werner’s interview with former State Rep. Ryan Winkler: