The national minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is a national disgrace. A full-time worker who never gets sick or takes a day off still falls below the poverty line.
But despite strong support for raising the minimum wage from Americans across the political spectrum, Congress won’t act.
That’s why 20 states have raised their minimum wages this year. The Maine Legislature had public hearings on a number of bills that would raise the state minimum wage from $7.50 last week, but opposition by Gov. LePage makes action in Augusta unlikely.
There is another option: Cities across the country have raised the minimum wage on their own. Portland Mayor Michael Brennan has proposed raising the local minimum to $10.68 an hour by 2017. That proposal is stuck in the City Council’s Finance Committee, which is still reviewing economic impact studies.
The local level is probably the worst level of government to make this kind of change, but waiting for the federal and state governments to act is unfair to people who work hard and struggle. City government should do what those others can’t.
The idea of Portland raising its minimum wage got a surprise endorsement from LePage, even though it was made with tongue in cheek.
“Portland should do it, and then we’ll see,” he told the attendees at a budget meeting in Cumberland.
The governor repeated a widely discredited talk radio meme that “all the restaurants in Seattle” are closing in anticipation of the city’s increase of its minimum wage April 1. Reporting by The Seattle Times has proved that the assertion to be false.
It was based on a single story in a lifestyle magazine that questioned whether the wage hike was related to the closure of four restaurants. The unsubstantiated story was picked up by the Washington Policy Center, a cousin of the right-leaning Maine Heritage Policy Center, and then distributed by Rush Limbaugh and other entertainers.
The Times talked to the four restaurant owners, and none said the wage hike had anything to do with their decision to close. It also determined that the closure of four restaurants in one month was not unusual for a city the size of Seattle.
Portland should take LePage up on his challenge, though. If the city benefits from a stimulated economy, Maine will see who was right.
The current minimum wage is unfair. Businesses pay more for rent, raw materials and heating costs every year, but they are allowed to freeze wages, making their lowest-paid employees bear the burden of inflation.
A University of Washington economic study found that an increase in the minimum wage would be passed on to consumers. A $15-an-hour minimum wage would add 68 cents to the cost of a Big Mac, maybe $5 to the cost of a meal in an expensive restaurant.
In exchange, people who are willing to work hard would be able to support themselves. Families would receive the dignity they deserve. Pressure would be relieved on food banks and other social service programs.
This issue would be best handled on the national level. A state minimum wage hike would stimulate economic activity all over Maine. But if the federal and state governments won’t act, Portland’s should. The Finance Committee should let the council debate and vote on this issue.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Comments are no longer available on this story