Republicans have pulled a major stunt to show business leaders how a Democrat majority in the General Assembly might spell bad news for their bottom line.
It all had to do with a vote that took place on the Senate floor for a bill that would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 over the next two years.1
Republicans letting this bill through committee — the place ‘bills go to die’ — was no accident, as holding this vote served two major goals.
First, this got both themselves and their Democratic opposition on record for the upcoming election. During election season, voting records usually speak louder than words.
The second was a foretelling that the Democrats would likely pass a $15 minimum wage bill in their first term, should they win a majority in the General Assembly this November.
The Republican message: “Look how close the vote is now, this is exactly what will pass if the Democrats take the majority in November”.
Using price control –- which minimum wage is a subset of -– to solve economic inequality has been attacked by Republicans as being ineffective, antiquated and causing more harm than good.
The main problem, they contend, is that a minimum wage raises labor costs above the amount of wealth that some low paying jobs produce.
At a minimum wage of $15 dollars an hour, a full-time employee must be increasing their employer’s bottom line by at least $35,000 a year, and not all positions can support this threshold.
Another growing concern is automation. As labor costs rise, machines replace a larger number of people in the workplace as seen in fast food kiosks or the introduction of ATMs.
Despite the expansion of automation, the minimum wage is likely to be a hot-button issue heading into election season.
Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
If that passes it will mean two employees have to go
We will have to either take their places doing the work or close
Hard enough paying meal taxes in VA ..rent…food cost…insurance…water and electric
Family businesses will suffer.
You’ll have to whip those that are left to make them earn their keep.
They may make twice the money, but it won’t be pleasant. 😉
This is a topic that’s near to my heart… Many thanks! Where are your contact details though?
All anybody with a brain would have to do is to look at NYC, Oregon cities, and Washington State, where they did this exact same thing. Utter failure, the number of businesses, specifically smaller and family-owned businesses have CLOSED, moved, or so reduced their staffs that unemployment numbers have increased, tax revenues to the cities have fallen to their lowest in years and nobody except a very very few is happy at all. Please stop letting people with absolutely no education in economics or with Marxist tendencies make decisions. It’s a proven bad idea.
The real value of the minimum wage has gone down since the 60s. It should be raised to $10.25 an hour to match historical levels. $15 is just way too much.
The government has no business setting a “minimum wage” at all.
Employees should be free to negotiate their own salaries based on their ability to generate revenue for the business.
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