Five More States Eye Minimum Wage Increases

Voters in five states will decide whether or not to raise their minimum wage. The federal minimum wage remains at $7.25, which critics say is too low for cost of living expenditures.

In the upcoming November election, voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maine, South Dakota and Washington state will have ballot proposals to raise their minimum wage at the state level, The Associated Press reports.

Voters in Arizona, Colorado and Maine will have the option of phasing in a $12 per hour minimum wage by 2020. Voters in Washington state can decide to phase in a more ambitious $13.50 minimum wage by 2020. Washington already has a $9.47 an hour minimum wage, well above the federal mandate.

South Dakota voters already raised their minimum wage to $8.50 an hour in 2014, but workers under 18 were barred from wages higher than the federal mandate. In the latest ballot measure, South Dakota voters could choose to allow minors to earn the increased state minimum wage.

Political scientist Jerold Waltman of Baylor University predicts that voters in all five states are likely to vote yes on the ballot measures.

“It almost always passes when it gets on the ballot,” Waltman said of minimum wage increases. “Most Americans have a fundamental sense of fairness, that if you work, you ought to make enough to to make a living wage on. Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on this.”

Campaigns against the ballot proposals assert that raising the minimum wage statewide could have unintended consequences. Tyler Sandberg of Keep Colorado Working says that the minimum wage should be raised in rural areas but not in cities.

Sandberg warned that if Colorado’s minimum wage increase is passed, “A big corporation in Denver is going to be treated the same as a small mom-and-pop business.”

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton supports raising the federal minimum wage to $12 per hour while allowing states and local communities to determine if they want their wages to be even higher, according to PBS NewsHour.

Meanwhile, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has offered inconsistent views on the subject of minimum wage. In fall 2015, the business mogul said that the federal minimum wage should not be raised but has since shifted that stance to raising it to $10 per hour. Overall, the business mogul maintains that the minimum wage should be left up to the states.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that a $10.10 minimum wage could result in a loss of 500,000 jobs nationwide but would lift 900,000 Americans out of poverty, a net positive.

During the Democratic primaries, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont advocated for a federal minimum wage no less than $15 per hour. On Oct. 12, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City released a white paper warning that a minimum wage of $15 per hour could result in increased youth unemployment, more automation taking over jobs and increased prices, Cleveland.com reports.

Sources: The Associated Press, Cleveland.com, PBS NewsHour / Photo credit: Marvin Fong/The Plain Dealer via Cleveland.com