ASUI passed a resolution supporting an initiative to raise the minimum wage in Idaho.
Led by Idahoans for a Fair Wage, the initiative would bring Idaho’s minimum wage to $13 per hour and the tipped wage to $10 per hour through incremental adjustments over four years. Idaho’s current minimum wage is in line with the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour and the state’s tipped minimum remains above the federal tipped minimum wage at $3.35 per hour. If the initiative receives enough signatures, it will be placed on the ballot in the 2022 election and voted upon by Idahoans.
Director of Legislative Affairs Lydia McRoberts, who authored the resolution, highlighted the benefits of the initiative’s structure that would bring an incremental approach to a minimum wage increase.
“Many studies have shown that increasing the minimum wage gradually over a number of years is much more effective at controlling price inflation typically associated with minimum wage increases because it spreads out prices instead of shocking the economy,” McRoberts said.
McRoberts noted that the minimum wage in 2007, if adjusted for inflation, would be $9.70 today. According to McRoberts, this evidence shows that wages in the state have failed to keep up with inflation, an issue that McRoberts said was only worsened by the ongoing supply chain issues stemming from the pandemic.
While the minimum wage legislation would impact all workers, McRoberts said this impact would be uniquely felt by both women and minority communities in the state, who have been and continue to be economically disadvantaged in the workplace.
“Raising the minimum wage will help reverse the rising wealth and wage inequality in the state,” McRoberts said. “It’s also no secret that women earn on average 82 cents per dollar that a man earns (a number that) is lower for people of color, especially women of color…”
In his statements on the resolution, Sen. Tanner McClain forwarded his opinion that the minimum wage should be determined by the market, rather than the government. Citing a 2014 survey, McClain said a minimum wage increase would cause 38% of small business owners to lay off workers and 54% of employers to decrease hiring.
McClain also mentioned his concern that the wage increase proposed by the initiative would reduce small businesses’ ability to compete with larger corporations.
“(It) is harmful to small businesses that struggle to pay and hire employees during these tough times,” McClain said. “You cannot compete against Amazon and other large corporations who can afford to pay these wages.”
Sen. Cassidey Plum, who also stood in opposition to the resolution, cited her personal experience as a waitress, where she was paid the tipped federal minimum wage.
“In my personal experience of working as a waitress in Idaho, I can say that I was able to make a substantial amount of money with the tipped minimum wage of $3.35 an hour,” Sen. Plum said adding that, in her middle-income area, she was able to make an average hourly wage ranging from $25 to $35 per hour.
Plum similarly drew attention to the effects that the initiative’s increase would have on small businesses.
“When you raise someone’s salary, it’s not only the salary that increases, but it also increases the employer’s taxes and materially impacts business decisions surrounding how many people to hire, as companies will not only have to pay these new increased wages but also the taxes on those wages,” Plum said.
Plum also said that minimum wage jobs are “never intended to fully support someone” and instead “designed for people to learn skills” as first-time workers. In response, Sen. Briana Navarro questioned the impact that the wage increase would have on immigrant workers.
Navarro said that many immigrant communities may be unable to get certain jobs with higher wages and be forced into minimum wage positions, which ultimately fails to provide a living wage under the current Idaho standards.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, foreign-born workers bring in median weekly earnings equivalent to 88.5% of their native-born counterparts.
Multiple bills were also introduced in Wednesday’s meeting, including a resolution showing appreciation for members of the university’s population that are veterans or currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces as well as a resolution encouraging university instructors to include either the Vandal inclusivity statement or a diversity statement of their own in future course syllabi.
Both bills are expected to be voted on when ASUI next reconvenes.
Royce McCandless can be reached at [email protected] or Twitter @roycemccandless