Minimum-Wage Campaign Hits Statehouse

Deborah Courson Smith

BOISE, Idaho – Advocates for boosting Idaho’s minimum wage say they’re trying again in the state Legislature.

“Lift Up Idaho,” a coalition pushing for a minimum wage increase, is made up of a variety of nonprofits, charities and religious organizations, including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Idaho, Catholic Charities of Idaho, and the AFL-CIO.

Another one of the coalition organizations, United Action for Idaho, is led by executive director Adrienne Evans. While there have been long-standing arguments against raising the minimum wage in the Gem State, she says the issue has a chance this year.

“The reception has been great on both sides of the aisle,” she says. “I think everyone’s pretty tired of hearing about Idaho ranking at the bottom in every economic indicator.”

Evans says some of those indicators include 20 percent of Idaho’s population on some type of public assistance, and job growth in which two out of three positions created in 2013 paid minimum wage.

The proposal expected to be printed in the Senate State Affairs Committee would raise the minimum from $7.25 an hour to $9.75 over two years, along with increases in tipped and training wages – which can run as low as $3.30 an hour.

Concerns about the cost to businesses are likely to play a big role in any debate, along with claims the cost of living in Idaho is low and most minimum wage workers are young adults. Evans says most minimum wage employees are between 25 and 38 years of age, and are usually women.

“Overwhelmingly, small businesses tell us they’re already paying $9, $10, or $12 an hour to keep good people,” she says. “It’s corporations who can afford to pay more and simply aren’t.”

According to Evans, raising the minimum wage means fewer people relying on government assistance. She says one example is the food stamp program SNAP, which costs Idaho $10 million a year to administer.