The ground has been shifting in the battle over
the minimum wage. With President Obama’s proposal to hike the
national minimum from $7.25 to $9 an hour stalled in Congress,
local labor activists have been aiming even higher, getting behind
a vastly higher minimum wage of $15 an hour. The proposals are
gaining steam. The small city of SeaTac, Wash., which includes
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, already has a $15 minimum in
force, while Seattle plans to implement one over time. Similar
“super-minimum” proposals also are under consideration in cities
like San Francisco and Chicago. Recent state-level legislation will
phase in a minimum wage of greater than $10 in California,
Connecticut, Maryland, Hawaii and Vermont. Massachusetts’ minimum
will rise to $11 by January 2017, while the District of Columbia’s
is set to rise to $11.50 by July 2016.
Raising the minimum wage is simply a terrible way to help the
poor, writes El Lehrer. Even if it’s not as disastrous as some
market advocates claim, it’s likely to do more harm than good.
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