Cough, prick, cough:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson (R), the GOP nominee for governor of Minnesota, said Wednesday that increasing the minimum wage isn't necessary, and workers should find higher-paying jobs instead.
"The minimum wage should not be what anybody aspires to, they should aspire to a, a career. They should aspire to a job that allows them to raise a family, the minimum wage won't do that," Johnson said at a press conference.
Johnson also said he opposes automatic increases in the minimum wage.
"Absolutely, absolutely. And I've said this before. I just, I think it's bad policy to ever have an automatic inflator in the minimum wage," he said. - Huffington Post, 8/14/14
Here's a little more info:
http://www.minnpost.com/...
On Friday — for the first time in nearly a decade — Minnesota’s minimum wage will start a series of incremental increases, jumping from $6.15 per hour for large employers to $8 per hour. By 2016, that increase will top out at $9.50 per hour. And in 2018, the wage will start indexing to inflation.
The new law is the result of a hard-fought compromise between House and Senate Democrats who controlled the state Legislature last session, which is why the law offers a lot of caps, delays and carve outs to help small businesses absorb the increase.
As the complicated new wage law starts kicking in on Friday, here’s what you need to know: How it works, who it will affect, and what the consequences might be:
What happens on August 1? A lot, and Friday is just the beginning. Until then, Minnesota law set the minimum wage at $5.25 for companies with annual revenues up to $625,000 and $6.15 for companies that have revenues of $625,000 or more. The new law will change the threshold for small and large businesses to those making more or less than $500,000 in annual revenues. For those above that line, the wage will go from $6.15 per hour to $8. The small employer wage will go from $5.25 per hour to $6.50.
But legislators also created a few special tiers to address concerns from small businesses. A 90-day training wage for employees under 20 years old will go up from $4.90 per hour to $6.50, and a new special “youth wage” for workers under 18 — who are not covered by federal wage laws — will also be set at $6.50 per hour.
The new law is expected to be completely phased by 2016, when it tops out at $9.50 per hour for large employers. Small employers, and those employing the training wage and youth workers, will have to pay $7.75 per hour. - Minn Post, 8/1/14
And here's why this is a good thing despite what Johnson says and thinks:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
About 325 thousand workers stand to benefit from the wage increases, according to the non-partisan Minnesota Budget Project. The increase will especially benefit women and people of color, who make up the majority of minimum wage workers in Minnesota and nationwide. But the economists there say it’s not enough. After years of stagnant wages, their studies show Minnesota families “can’t afford basic needs,” and “may have to live in substandard housing.” They calculate that the wage would have to be $16.46 an hour for workers to be able to rent adequate, affordable housing, and in more expensive areas, like Minneapolis-St. Paul, a worker would need $18.19 an hour, or 2.5 jobs at the federal minimum wage.
Johnson, who will face off with Governor Mark Dayton this November, followed up his comments in opposition to minimum wage increases with a description of goals that seem to require those same increases.
“I have a vision of a state where we abandon the principle that the poor are poor and the rich are rich and all we can do is redistribute the wealth,” he said. “Instead, we are celebrating the people who are successful and never giving up on the people in this state who are poor. We are preaching a belief that the poor can become the middle class and the middle class can become rich. And anyone who starts with nothing can achieve anything in this state.” - Think Progress, 8/14/14
Lets help Governor Dayton get ready to defeat this clown come November. Click here to donate and get involved with his campaign:
http://markdayton.org/