In case you missed it, the minimum wage hasn’t been raised in nearly two decades. Whether this measure is a good thing or a bad thing depends upon who, or whom, you ask. Proponents of a federal minimum wage raise argue that it has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009. And that is true. However, the cost of living has gone up considerably since thaen. For example, a person working 40 hours per week at the current minimum wage would earn $290. Times 52, that comes to $15,080 per year. That is barely above the federal poverty level in 2021 for individuals, which is $12,760, and well below the poverty level for a family of 2, which is $17,240.
Opponents of raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour assert it will cause millions of Americans to lose their jobs and millions of small business owners to go out of business. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would lead to the loss of 1.4 million jobs by 2025. Meanwhile, the CBO also estimated that 900,000 workers would be lifted out of poverty.
As for me, I’m all for having our “working poor” earn a decent, living wage, but I’m against having a $15 federal minimum wage mandated by Congress and the president. I think the minimum wage should be handled at the state level by the state legislators and the governor. Why? Because our states differ greatly in population, size and circumstance. What works for California and Texas may not work for Colorado and Tennessee.
According to my research, at least 30 states and the District of Columbia already have minimum wages above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. For example, D.C. pays $15 an hour and California pays $13. As with the other states, there is a relatively high correlation between minimum wages and cost of living. Kudos to the states that stood up for their working poor by raising their minimum wages. Thanks to them, only 1.6 million hourly workers now earn the federal minimum wage or less, compared to the 7.7 million in 1980. By any objective measure, that is huge progress. But it is cold comfort to those still stuck in poverty.
According to AARP and others, more than 20 states have recently raised their minimum wages, with more to come. Good for them! Our founders realized the best way for “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union,” was to grant to our states a major role in their own self-rule and destiny. That’s why our federal government is - or should be - paramount only in its enumerated powers according to our Constitution and as legislated by Congress within that authority.
Clearly, most of our states have earned their title of “laboratories of democracy.” Let’s leave raising the minimum wage up to them.
Retired Army Colonel Thomas B. Vaughn may be reached at tbvbwmi@benlomand.net.
