Utah minimum wage may rise in '07
Working group, guv to discuss findings on pay — but state may wait for U.S. action
"I don't think that's a bad idea," the governor told the Deseret Morning News, joking that his teenage son is earning the minimum wage working at a bicycle repair shop — just as he did at that age, as a dishwasher in a local restaurant.
More than a year ago, Huntsman put together a working group to look at whether an increase was needed in Utah.
But the group, headed by homeless advocate Pamela Atkinson, decided it needed more information before making a recommendation.
Now the group is getting ready to meet with the governor and legislative leaders to discuss its findings. Even if members find there's a need to raise the rate, though, it could be that Utah chooses instead to wait for federal action.
The momentum appears to be there. Voters in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio all agreed on Nov. 7 to raise the minimum wage paid in those states, and the incoming Democrat-controlled Congress has pledged to raise the federal minimum wage.
He said he'll decide whether to make an increase part of his legislative package for the 2007 Legislature that begins meeting in mid-January after he sees the results of the state-funded study of who's being paid the minimum wage in Utah.
"We have, I think, about 13,000 to 14,000 people in this state making minimum wage," the governor said. "So how do you define that demographic? Are they high school, part-time workers, or are they single moms, which would be a real concern to me."
Although the results of the study are still being pulled together, Atkinson said fewer than 20 percent of the state's minimum wage earners are teenagers. That, she said, surprised even her.
She said the study, expected to be made public in mid-December, will break down the number of Utahns earning the minimum wage by gender, age and marital status. "We've come up with hard facts rather than myths."
Opposition to a higher minimum wage has come from the business community, especially small-business owners and the restaurant industry. The Utah Restaurant Association warned last year that an increase could mean fewer jobs.
Not so, Atkinson said. "There are still some people who believe raising the minimum wage will cause a fair amount of job losses," she said. "As we do research around the country, that is not a fact."
Still, Atkinson stopped short of saying now that the minimum wage should be raised, preferring to wait until the study is finalized and presented to the governor and lawmakers. "I won't, at this point, make a recommendation," she said.
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