Gulf grows between incomes of rich, poor

BOISE – The gap between rich and poor in Idaho continues to widen, and only policy decisions that consider the poor will help reverse that trend.

That was the consensus from two Democrats, a labor leader and a representative from the Idaho Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, who released a study Friday examining income inequality in individual states and across the nation.

The study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute found that while the incomes of middle-class and lower-class families in Idaho increased from the early 1980s to early this decade, the incomes of the wealthiest families grew much more. Middle-class families saw an increase of 24.9 percent and poor families of 33.2 percent, according to the study. Wealthy families saw a 51.6 percent gain.

This contrasts with incomes from the late 1940s to the late 1970s, which were closing in on each other rather than spreading apart.

“The middle class in particular is struggling more and more to keep up in sharing in the prosperity,” said Judy Brown, director of the Idaho Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Moscow.

“It’s a race to the bottom,” AFL-CIO Idaho President Dave Whaley said. “A complete race.”

Whaley and Brown were joined by Reps. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, and Elmer Martinez, D-Pocatello, who said legislation is needed to combat the inequality problems facing Idaho and the entire nation.

“There is simply no excuse for giving giant tax breaks to profitable companies that offer low wages, cut or refuse benefits and then pay their CEO tens of millions of dollars,” LeFavour said.

She said Democrats favor raising the minimum wage, which is now $5.15 an hour. Reps. Anne Pasley-Stuart, D-Boise, and Shirley Ringo, D-Moscow, will be introducing a bill this session to do that.

“While you may have to raise prices on a menu a couple pennies, the possibility that someone is going to be able to go and dine there and buy a $40 meal are greatly increased,” LeFavour said.

But Idaho’s chief economist, Mike Ferguson, said raising the minimum wage is often overrated in its contributions to economic equality because a relatively small number of people in the state earn minimum wage.

Ferguson did agree that the key to closing the gap between rich and poor lies in politics.

“I think ultimately it’s a political issue because it has to do with how the rules are established within a society,” Ferguson said.

Martinez and LeFavour discussed other legislation expected to be introduced this session, such as bills addressing Wal-Mart and its treatment of employees. Whaley discussed his ballot initiative to repeal Idaho’s right to work law, which bans unions from requiring that employees join or pay dues as a condition of employment. The law decreases union power and results in low wages for all workers, Whaley said. Barely 5 percent of Idaho workers belong to a union.

They attributed the widening income gap partly to low union membership.

“My message is: Everything is not OK,” Martinez said. “All it takes is knocking on doors and listening to people.”