Iowa Senate decisively passes increase in minimum wage
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By Dan Gearino | Thursday, January 25, 2007 |
DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers left their federal counterparts in the dust Wednesday night, passing a hike in the minimum wage and sending it to Gov. Chet Culver, while a similar measure stalled in Washington.
The Iowa Senate, in a 40-8 vote, approved a plan to raise the wage from $5.15 to $7.25 by next January. The bill passed the Iowa House a day earlier.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this, and Iowa’s working poor have waited a long time as well,” said Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, whose district includes the southwestern part of Muscatine County. He was the bill’s lead sponsor.
“I’m very happy that it’s come,” said Sen. Joe Seng, D-Davenport, who described the vote as one of his proudest moments as a lawmaker.
Culver will sign the bill as early as this afternoon, a spokesman said. It will be the first increase in the base pay in nine years.
Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Senate leaders warned that there would be no quick passage of a plan to raise the nation’s minimum wage. The federal proposal also would raise the wage to $7.25, though the phase-in would be more than a year longer than the Iowa plan.
Senators are unable to agree if the wage hike should coincide with tax breaks for small businesses.
“Some senators simply want to propose amendments with the hope that they will sink the bill entirely,” said a statement from U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. “I do not believe they will succeed, and I will fight them vigorously.”
He said he remains optimistic that a bill will pass soon.
There are similar obstacles in Iowa, but not enough to delay a bill that is a top priority for newly empowered Democrats. The party gained control of both houses of the Legislature in the last election.
The uncertain status of the federal wage may have actually helped bolster the case in the Iowa Legislature. For the past few weeks, some Republicans have said it’s pointless to raise the Iowa wage if the federal wage is about to be raised to the same amount.
“If we worried about everything they’re doing in Washington, D.C., and waited for Washington to act, we’d be in big trouble here in Iowa,” said Sen. Bill Dotzler, D-Waterloo.
The Iowa bill raises the wage in two steps, first to $6.20 on April 1 and then to $7.25 on Jan. 1. The “training wage,” for workers 19 and younger in the first 90 days of employment, will rise from $4.25 to $5.30 on April 1 and then to $6.35 on Jan. 1.
Small businesses with less than $300,000 in gross annual income are exempt from the wage rules, a provision unchanged from the current law.
Opponents of the wage hike said it would harm the economy and have unintended negative consequences. Republicans proposed nine amendments to the bill, all of which were voted down or ruled out of order.
Debate lasted more than three hours and ended just after 9:30 p.m.
Sen. Paul McKinley, R-Chariton, said the wage increase would disproportionately harm already-struggling rural communities. “It is but another nail in rural Iowa’s economic coffin,” he said.
“I think it’s going to hurt our small business people. … I think it’s going to ratchet up the pay scale on down the line and cause inflation,” said Sen. Jim Hahn, R-Muscatine.
Sen. David Hartsuch, R-Bettendorf, said his district has attracted employers because the Iowa minimum wage is lower than the $6.50 per hour paid in Illinois, an advantage that will now vanish.
“Most of my constituents oppose it. … I haven’t had anyone call me up and say, ’Please vote for this,’ ” he said.
Dan Gearino can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 and dan.gearino@lee.net.
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