Minimum wage jobs are intended to be short-term, until the employee gains the necessary skills and experience to take on more responsibility. The minimum wage was not created to provide a permanent wage.
It is ironic that some of our legislators are again promising to pass a very high state minimum wage of $15 per hour. After all, the origins of minimum wage laws were rooted in institutionalized racial discrimination.
A 2016 Heritage Foundation analysis found that more than doubling the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 would cause 7 million workers to lose their jobs.
The Joint Fiscal Office calculated that a couple working full time in minimum wage jobs with one school-aged child would see an annual income increase by $1,155 in the first year of proposed minimum wage increases, but they would lose $1,334 in benefits.
A $15 minimum wage could have a negative impact on retirees who live on a fixed income, yet the state’s advocates for seniors are refusing to get involved.
Businesses would have to pass on the higher cost of labor to their customers in the form of higher prices for goods and services. Senior citizens living on fixed incomes would, therefore, have to pay more for things like food, nursing care, household help, and so on, with no boost in income.
Minimum wage laws in a dozen states will cost the U.S. roughly 261,000 new jobs in 2018. New York will be hit the hardest where various state and municipal minimum wage hikes will suppress job growth by nearly 100,000.
Currently, the minimum wage for workers who also receive tips is $3.33 an hour in the district. Initiative 77, which passed with 55 percent approval on Tuesday, will raise that to the same rate as the district’s standard minimum wage of $12.50, and it will rise further to $15 by 2020.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said that the majority of Americans support a $15 minimum wage, but an April poll by CreditLoan says otherwise.
Governor Scott was absolutely right to veto the $15 minimum wage bill. Let’s hope he doesn’t have to do so again a year from now, and, if he does, he has the votes to sustain that veto.
Gov. Phil Scott on Tuesday vetoed bills for a $15 minimum wage and mandatory paid family leave, citing campaign promises not to raise costs on residents and businesses.
If our legislators want to pass a policy like the $15 minimum wage, they ought to be aware of how this policy would hit the poorest rural areas of Vermont, so that they don’t mistake minimal “average” impact for major impact on the areas of Vermont that can least afford to raise wages.