It wasn't exactly Earth-shattering news that backers of a higher minimum wage fell short of the required signatures--for now. The papers say it's not uncommon for canvassers to come up a little short initially when signatures are first turned in and culled at the secretary of state's office. So they'll get another month to gather more names and clean up the rolls. These things happen.
It wasn't exactly news either that backers of a higher minimum wage seem optimistic. Back in 2014, voters in this state raised the minimum wage to $8.50, where it stands. Higher minimum wages seem to be all the rage around the nation. On the West Coast, folks are demanding $15 an hour to work at fast-food joints. Maybe we should feel lucky Arkansas' initiative only asks for 11 bucks an hour.
But there was one bit of news in the latest story in Tuesday's paper, something we hadn't heard yet, and should be repeated here:
Arkansas' minimum wage is already higher than all of the states surrounding us. Here are the numbers:
Missouri: $7.85.
Oklahoma: $7.25.
Texas: $7.25.
Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi pay the federal minimum wage: $7.25.
As mentioned, Arkansas' stands at $8.50, and may be climbing if this ballot issue passes.
Can you imagine what a business owner might think having to pay nearly $4 an hour more for unskilled labor than he'd have to in Texas? He's already paying more than a buck more, and those pushing the minimum wage in this state want more!, to quote Samuel Gompers. If you were to open a restaurant near Fort Smith, or in Texarkana, or maybe if you were to open a convenience store in south Union County/north Union Parish, do you think $4 more per hour for each employee would factor in your decision?
There is evidence a minimum wage increase might not be as beneficial, even to employees, as some might suggest. Seattle raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2015, and enough years have passed to study it.
Some research from a group of economists at the University of Washington found the minimum wage hike actually hurt low-income workers more than it helped. The study estimates the average low-wage worker in the city lost $125 a month because of the increase. You see, employers cut payrolls, slowed hiring and reduced hours, even letting some workers go.
The bottom line is that employers still have to make a profit. If they're suddenly forced by state government to pay higher wages, they'll make adjustments elsewhere to offset that. And those adjustments are likely to mean workers getting fewer hours or even laid off. Or, more likely, not hired in the first place, as attrition lowers the number of workers naturally, and business owners simply don't hire replacements.
Nationally, the Congressional Budget Office found a higher federal minimum-wage law would cost the U.S. economy 500,000 jobs.
This is why it's best for wages to be set by supply and demand. The businesses in our local economies need to be free from government influence to set wages they can handle so more workers stay employed. And that, in turn, leads to job experience, references, and employment in better paying jobs later.
That's called moving up the economic ladder, and it's what Americans have proudly done for decades.
Editorial on 08/02/2018