If Louisiana’s working citizens—particularly those struggling to pay rent, put food on the table, pay for their children’s educational needs, clothe their families, buy gasoline and pay insurance premiums—are paying attention, they will soon know who their legislators represent—the aforementioned working people or the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI) and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
State Sen. Troy Carter (D-New Orleans) cartert@legis.la.gov has introduced SB 155, backed by Gov. Edwards, to raise the state’s stagnant minimum wage from an incentive-choking $7.25 to $9.00, effective July 1, 2020. If approved, it would go to voters in the form of a constitutional amendment.
It’s time. In fact, it’s way past time.
The same goes for the long overdue equal pay for women legislation. Louisiana currently pays women about 60 percent of what men earn for the same job. That’s unthinkable.
Equally unfathomable is that similar bills have failed to gain traction in past legislative sessions.
Gov. Edwards is on record as supporting both measures.
Women are not second-class citizens and should not be treated as such.
HB 289 by Rep. Barbara Norton (D-Shreveport) nortonb@legis.la.gov provides equal pay for women and HB 63 by Rep Joseph Bouie, Jr. (D-New Orleans) bouiej@legis.la.gov would require any contractor who enters into a contract with a public entity to comply with the Equal Pay for Women Act. Both bills are pending before the House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee.
That committee membership is weighted 9-6 in favor of Republicans. Members include Reps. Patrick Jefferson, Chair (D-Homer) jeffersonpo@legis.la.gov, Kenny Cox (D-Natchitoches) coxk@legis.la.gov, Royce Duplessis (D-New Orleans) duplessisr@legis.la.gov, Ted James (D-Baton Rouge) james.ted@legis.la.gov, Ed Larvadain, III (D-Alexandria) hse026@legis.la.gov, Vincent J. Pierre (D-Lafayette) pierrev@legis.la.gov, Blake Miguez, Vice Chair, (R-Erath) miguezb@legis.la.gov, Beryl Amedee (R-Houma) amedeeb@legis.la.gov, Larry Bagley (R-Stonewall) bagleyl@legis.la.gov, Raymond Crews (R-Bossier City) crewsr@legis.la.gov, Reid Falconer (R-Mandeville) falconerr@legis.la.gov, Dodie Horton (R-Haughton) hortond@legis.la.gov, Jack McFarland (R-Jonesboro) mcfarlandj@legis.la.gov, Alan Seabaugh (R-Shreveport) seabaugha@legis.la.gov, and Scott Simon (R-Abita Springs) simons@legis.la.gov. |
The federal minimum wage hasn’t been adjusted for a decade and anyone who thinks even a single person with no dependents can survive on $7.25 per hour is woefully out of touch with reality.
Anyone who believes that is spending far too much time on the golf course.
Anyone who believes that, you can bet, has never had to do so.
LABI President Stephen Waguespack, a alumnus of the Bobby Jindal administration, will throw all his organization’s resources into an all-out effort to defeat Carter’s bill just as he has with past efforts to raise the minimum wage.
Waguespack can afford to do so, too, because he’s being paid a comfortable six-figure salary to represent the interests of big business over those of working stiffs.
His condescending comment about a minimum wage being being a “one size fits all” approach is both arrogant and deliberately misleading.
Waguespack will be in the State Capitol corridors every day. Legislators are forbidden from accepting campaign contributions from any of the four LABI political action committees, but they know if they vote the way he wants, those contributions will flow in once the legislative session adjourns.
In the meantime, nothing prevents him from wining and dining key members of the legislature. Key members like, say, certain members (read: Republican) members of the Senate Labor & Industrial Relations Committee, which will decide whether or not Carter’s bill moves forward to the floors of the House and Senate.
That committee is chaired by Sen. Neil Riser (R-Columbia), risern@legis.la.gov
Riser should (but likely won’t) be all-in on raising the minimum wage. After all, it was he who tried to slip that amendment onto a rather benign bill back in 2014 that would’ve given then-State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson a healthy six-figure increase in his yearly retirement.
Carter is vice-chair and he should have allies in Sens. Regina Barrow (D-Baton Rouge) barrowr@legis.la.gov, Wesley T. Bishop (D-New Orleans) bishopw@legis.la.gov and Jean-Paul J. Morrell (D-New Orleans) morrelljp@legis.la.gov.
Republicans on the committee include, besides Riser, include Sens. Ronnie Johns (R-Lake Charles) johnsr@legis.la.gov and Barrow Peacock (R-Bossier City) peacockb@legis.la.gov
Other southern states that have held the line at $7.25 include Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Arkansas has already raised its minimum wage to $11. Shoot, even West Virginia has a state minimum wage of $8.75.
Altogether, 26 other states have a minimum wage higher than Louisiana and 19 of those are already at $9 or above.
The U.S. has an income disparity that should be embarrassing—and it’s only getting wider. The haves keep getting richer and the have-nots keep sinking in poverty and the Stephen Waguespacks of the world couldn’t care less as long as they can keep corporate board members fat and happy.
And many legislators couldn’t care less as long as they can keep the campaign contributions coming in.
So, fight back. The average worker can’t take time off to go to the Capitol to lobby legislators. Stephen Waguespack can because that’s precisely what he’s paid to do. It’s an uneven playing field.
But you can contact your legislator—early and often—and let him/her know that this is an election year and you have a lethal weapon—the ballot.
I did a calculation this morning and calculated a bare bones existence in Baton Rouge would require $14.16/hr. with NO health insurance (I do include car expenses, so I guess one could do without a car and buy health insurance instead) and leaving NO wiggle room at all. One emergency expense would bankrupt the person. Even at $15/hr. most people would still need help from somebody, or extra hours of work to have a reasonable existence. I have never understood how businesses and their economists can justify the current minimum wage from any POV. How can a burger flipper afford even the burgers he is flipping, for example? Warren Buffett has made this argument many times in the past, but I guess even he has given up.
Since how old people are and with whom they live is fairly easy to identify, I see no problem with a different minimum for students or others who are largely supported by others. On the other hand, I think of my own life experience. My father employed me in his business (there are exceptions for family businesses) at age 13 at 50 cents an hour. That never changed. When I was 15 I got a job as the janitor at the SWEPCO office paying $1.25/hr.-the minimum wage at the time. I made more money working less hours and it worked better all the way around for me and my Dad. It saved my parents money in at least 2 ways. Kids don’t and can’t legally (except in family businesses) work full-time so there is a whole different personal finance situation at play with them.
The wage issue really boils down to whether we want people to be self-sufficient enough to be the consumers who drive our economy.
In an ideal world the free market would, in competition for labor,, provide adequate wages to its workers. For many reasons, that is not working.
One thing for sure: There would be fewer people dependent on government and family support if there were more jobs offering living wages. There would also be a lot of grateful parents and grandparents.
Supply and demand. If no one accepted a minimum wage job, the wages will rise. Post Katrina New Orleans was proof of that. Employers like McDonald’s had to pay a bonus on top of much higher wages to get anyone to show up for work..
If Trump succeeds in restricting flow of illegals (cheap labor) you will see a rise in wages in order to get workers to replace the illegals. I believe illegals are an affront to the working Americans because they take jobs and keep wage rate low. No one is penalized for hiring them. Makes one question why democrats, who pretend to be for the working man, want an influx of cheap labor.
Minimum wage is a political myth; minimum wage is not intended to be a career wage. A worker should have incentive to improve labor skills to earn more. History has shown increases in minimum pay causes drop in jobs offered or hours or both. You can be certain that if no one shows up at Popeye’s, the wages will rise to get and keep workers.
You are incorrect on so many levels. First, Democrats have never said they want an influx of cheap labor. Second, the only jobs immigrants (including Latinos and Vietnamese) have taken are jobs no one else would take. As for refusing to take minimum wage jobs, when an employers only offer minimum wage and you are hungry, it’s rather difficult to walk away, even from an undesirable wage. And Trump’s efforts to stem the flow of immigrants, if successful, will do precisely zilch in raising salaries. The so-called “tax reform” bill has already shown that. Big business got 99 percent of the tax breaks and created no jobs and raised no salaries while lining the pockets of board members.
Now let’s address you post-Katrina claim. Workers were scattered by the storm. That’s why labor was hard to find. They were in Houston, Atlanta, and elsewhere. Second, take the Shaw Group, for example. FEMA paid Shaw $175 per square (10 ft by 10 ft) to place blue tarps on about 80,000 damaged roofs in New Orleans. Bear in mind, most roofs had damages larger than the 100 square feet covered by a single tarp. Shaw paid a subcontractor $75 per square—a net profit of $100 per square—and never touched a tarp. The subcontractor in turn farmed his work out to a third company at $30 a square—a net profit of $45 per square. The third company paid the actual workers $2 per square, a net of $28 per square.
There’s your classic example of trickle-up economics.
And you still think corporations are benevolent, looking for ways to pay employees more money?
Please let me into your dream world.
Well said Tom.
Thank you for this important information!
I’d bet the farm that those legislators who work so hard to deny working people adequate wages are all in favor of corporate welfare. They will talk about “support for families” while actively working against the interest of those very families. As we know, equal pay for women and a living wage for all who hold jobs would go a long way toward improved quality of life for those who are struggling. But, hey, who cares about all that (not to mention access to quality public education) when it’s so important to make sure that the biggest and most profitable companies on the planet, with facilities right here in Louisiana, pay little or nothing in taxes. Paying a fair share of taxes is only for the little people, right, repubs?
I’ve shared points of view on this before. It bears resharing. It’s a matter of understanding how the economy works. Although, I was in favor of rising minimum wages in high school, I think what made me rethink was that I took a job that earned a bit more, but moreso due to my own efforts. This caused me to wonder whether I wanted to earn more because of regulations or because of the time and effort I put into gaining the skills. When I did better, I earned more, and more opportunities arose. I liked this. I felt my own efforts and abilities would be the reason I earned more money. **The alternative is the rise in wages was arbitrary and I didn’t really have an impact on my own success.
***But the same bears repeating. Labor costs. It’s a huge impact on businesses. When companies hire individuals, wages, health, and other costs come into the equation. To raise wages, the company must produce more or raise prices. Then, the customers pay more. Basically, it’s following the rabbit trail of common understanding which needs to be taught.
***There is no way to improve the economics artificially. The market determines. If wages rise artificially, eventually the market will cause a reduction in dollar value. That extra $5.00 an hour per worker will cause price increases, difficulty for businesses. People will be let go, then require unemployment, which is working men and women’s tax dollars. Prices rise and so does the cost of living.
It’s like when I mowed lawns in the neighborhood. People paid me what they perceived I was worth, but moreso what they were willing to pay. The only way to increase my worth would be to do each job faster (but as good), or do additional chores that the home owners wanted. But if they weren’t willing, then someone else would have to pay the additional dollars that the home owners weren’t willing. But eventually, they would be paying it: out of their own taxes, which would increase.
****Perspective.