The minimum wage issue, surfacing in many races this year, impacts who votes. Minimum wage initiatives bring out voters in a more direct way. I doubt any political pundit would contest such a claim. But, what about referendums which are advisory, without legislative effect? In particular, the minimum wage question and others placed on the ballot in Milwaukee and elsewhere in Wisconsin:
At least eight other areas in the state, including Dane, Kenosha and Eau Claire counties and Appleton, also are asking voters whether the state should increase the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10.
Minimum wage hike among issues up for referendum votes in Milwaukee County Georgia Pabst. Journal Sentinel, Oct. 19, 2014
Other opinion referendums are also on the ballot, and Health Care particularly might also persuade voters to turn out:
BadgerCare: Voters also will be asked if the next Legislature should accept all available federal funds for BadgerCare to ensure that thousands of Wisconsin citizens have access to affordable health care.
Gov. Scott Walker's recent comment adds some extra motivation to not only express an opinion on the minimum wage issue, but to vote him out. Literally, Wisconsin voters are deciding the minimum wage issue in deciding the next governor, Walker just made that very clear. Mary Burke has made her support explicit.
Clearly, the minimum wage is linked to the governor's race in Wisconsin, where the governor has the power to raise the wage when deemed needed. And now, the issue is also front and center after Walker's comment to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board. I hope discussion will take up the minimum wage issue in other races around the country, especially Senate races. More on Wisconsin below the fold.
Oct 20, 2014 at 8:10 am
Minimum wage bubbles to the surface of governor’s race
Minimum wage has bubbled to the surface of the gubernatorial race after Gov. Scott Walker said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board while he won’t repeal the current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, he doesn’t feel it serves a purpose.
His opponent, Mary Burke, has a very different position regarding this issue, Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin professor of political science, said. Burke has come out in support of the initiative endorsed by President Barak Obama to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, what proponents of this idea call a “living wage.”
.... Citizen Action Executive Director Robert Kraig, said he agrees $7.25 per hour is not enough to allow for this.
“No serious economist or person trying to live in our society feels that the current minimum wage in Wisconsin is enough to live off of,” Kraig said.
However, Walker has said he needs more evidence to support this. ....
Scott Walker Thinks $7.25 Is a Living Wage—He’s Wrong
John Nichols on October 14, 2014
Reasonable people may differ on the precise definition of a living wage. But the consensus is that $7.25 an hour does not come close to the standard for assuring that someone who works full time can earn enough to live above the poverty line.
Unfortunately, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s administration has formally rejected that consensus view and is now arguing that $7.25 an hour is a living wage.
... As Wisconsin’s governor, Walker is uniquely positioned among all governors in the nation to address the concerns of low-wage workers. Unlike most other states, where governors have little or no authority to help low-wage workers, Wisconsin governors can act.
... Wisconsin Statute Sec. 104.02 declares, “Every wage paid or agreed to be paid by any employer to any employee ... shall be not less than a living wage.”
According to the law, when a governor’s administration receives “a verified complaint of any person setting forth that the wages paid to any employee in any occupation are not sufficient to enable the employee to maintain himself or herself under conditions consistent with his or her welfare,” the complaint must be investigated within twenty days and a determination must be made on “whether there is reasonable cause to believe that the wage paid to any employee is not a living wage.” .....
Burke, supporters hope Walker's opposition to raising minimum wage sways voters in tight race
AP Oct 16, 2014
Democrat Mary Burke and her supporters hope that Republican Gov. Scott Walker's adamant opposition to the minimum wage will help swing the governor's race in her favor, with polls showing them tied less than three weeks before Election Day.
Burke supports increasing Wisconsin's minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour. Walker not only opposes increasing the minimum wage, he said this week that he doesn't think setting a minimum salary serves a purpose.
... But Walker's views are in the minority, based on the latest Marquette University Law School poll released Wednesday. It shows 61 percent of likely voters want to increase the minimum wage, while 35 percent are opposed. Respondents weren't asked what they thought about scrapping the minimum wage altogether.
That poll showed the governor's race is tied, with 47 percent for both Walker and Burke. ...