Senator refuses to schedule even introductory hearing on minimum wage bill, says it lacks political support
Sen. Curt McKenzie, R-Nampa, said today that he’s declined to schedule either a full hearing on minimum wage legislation proposed by Sen. Maryanne Jordan, D-Boise, and Rep. Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, or an introductory hearing, which would allow the bill to be printed and get a bill number. “I had a print hearing last year, just as a courtesy to Mat,” McKenzie, who chairs the Senate State Affairs Committee, said today, “with the understanding we weren’t going to hear it.”
“If it doesn’t appear to have a chance to get through the process, we aren’t going to have a hearing,” McKenzie said. “I didn’t see any indication that this is an issue the governor’s office supports. I don’t believe that there are the votes in the Senate State Affairs Committee or in the full Senate or House, if it got there. I don’t think it’s supported by my constituents.”
The bill would raise Idaho’s $7.25 per hour minimum wage to $8.50 an hour on July 1, 2017, and to $9.75 on July 1, 2017. The minimum wage for tipped workers would rise from the current $3.30 an hour to $3.80 on July 1, 2016, and to $4.25 a year later. After that, both would be adjusted annually based on changes in the Consumer Price Index.
Asked how he knew that his constituents wouldn’t support the move – an Idaho poll by Idaho Politics Weekly, conducted by Dan Jones & Associates last summer, showed 70 percent of Idahoans favor raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour – McKenzie said, “That’s just my impression – I could be wrong. But I don’t see this as an issue that my party, the Republican Party, generally advances. My district has been consistently Republican … for a long time.”
He said of the bill’s backers, “They’re frustrated, and I understand that, but I don’t think they have the political support to move it.”
The latest federal figures show that 5.1 percent of Idahoans earn the minimum wage or less, compared to a national rate of 3.9 percent. Of the 21,000 Idaho workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2014, 57 percent were women. In 2003, just 3 percent of Idaho’s workers earned the minimum wage or less. Just 1 percent of workers in Oregon and Washington earn the minimum wage or less.
“Lift Up Idaho,” a coalition working to raise Idaho’s minimum wage, said in a statement, “The coalition was hopeful that this year lawmakers would finally hear from Idaho workers and their families. … Most people don't realize that the individual who presides over a committee can arbitrarily decide which issues are important enough to allow public testimony. Minimum wage is an issue worthy of a public discussion.”
The group added, “We need our elected legislators to focus on serving the people of Idaho rather than on their re-election campaigns. It is paramount to a healthy government that the people who serve in these roles not only listen to their constituencies, but work together to find solutions.” It said it will continue to push for the measure this year. You can read my full story here at spokesman.com.
