Groups attempt to increase minimum wage
Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, said putting more money in people's pockets would help stimulate the economy, especially because so much time has passed since the last time the minimum wage was increased.
Published April 25, 2006
Some college students think they need a raise, and if a piece of legislation or a ballot initiative passes, they might just get it.
A bill in the Missouri House of Representatives co-sponsored by Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, would raise the state minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.50. Starting in 2008, the bill, if passed, also would raise the minimum wage each year according to inflation.
"It has not been raised since the federal minimum wage has been raised," Baker said. "Right now it's tied to the federal minimum wage, so it would have been the last time they raised it, which was in the early '90s."
A group called Give Missourians a Raise is running a separate movement to raise the minimum wage, according to the Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's Web site. The group's ballot initiative also would raise the minimum wage to $6.50 or to the federal level if it is higher than $6.50.
Then it would adjust the minimum wage annually according to the Consumer Price Index, according to the text of the ballot initiative. The CPI is a national program that produces monthly data on changes in prices paid by urban consumers.
Give Missourians a Raise is collecting signatures to put the proposal on the ballot in November. Approximately 91,000 signatures are required for the initiative to make it on the ballot, according to the Secretary of State's Web site.
On Monday, Columbians Ronnie Rogers and Jeff Jamison walked up and down Ninth Street collecting signatures to put this and other questions on the ballot.
"Right now, it's not enough money for people around here to live on," Rogers said.
MU economics professor Joe Haslag said raising the minimum wage might cause the state to lose jobs.
"Basically, left to its own devices, the market is going to pay a wage to a person at the value of what they produce," Haslag said.
"If a government imposes a minimum wage and a worker does not produce at a value at or above the new higher minimum wage, the economics would dictate that a firm would layoff that worker."
Baker said the economic data she had seen proved the opposite. She said raising the minimum wage actually would help the state's economy and wouldn't hurt Missouri's edge against other states for jobs.
"States that have raised the minimum wage have seen economic stimulus after raising it, so I'm not sure I buy this argument anymore," she said. "Illinois' minimum wage is higher than ours already. We already have some border states that are progressive on this issue."
Baker said putting more money in people's pockets would help stimulate the economy, especially since so much time has passed since the state minimum wage was raised.
"The times that the minimum wage has been raised have been followed by economic stimulus," Baker said. "There's a mechanism involved where when more people have more disposable income, it stimulates the economy. It's been so long since it's been raised that we're at a time now where it will be good for the economy. It also sends a message to workers that we value their work and want to give them a living wage."