There’s a new Governor in Des Moines, and he wants to increase the Iowa minimum wage.
Governor Chet Culver, a Democrat, was elected partly based on his promise to increase the Iowa minimum wage. At a recent Federation of Labor Minimum Wage News Conference, the governor said, “In recent days Iowans have become painfully aware that it is time to stop waiting on Washington and raise Iowa’s minimum wage.”
As a Democratic candidate for Governor, Culver supported raising the Iowa minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour. “This would mean an immediate pay raise for 257,000 hardworking Iowans. This pay raise is long overdue,” according to Culver.
Prior to his election, Culver criticized the 2005/2006 Republican-led Congress for not raising the minimum wage in nearly a decade. He pointed out that more than 20 other states have “given up waiting on Washington” and raised the state minimum wage, as well. “It’s time for Iowa to join those states. Hard-working Iowans and their families can’t afford to wait any longer. An increase in the minimum wage to $7.25 would immediately make a tremendous difference in the lives of Iowa families.”
After the Democrats won a majority in the House and Senate during the 2006 mid-term elections, an increase in the federal minimum wage is Imminent. The federal plan is to increase the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $5.85 per hour in 60 days. Subsequent increases of 70 cents will follow each year, raising the minimum wage to $6.55 in 2008 and $7.25 in 2009.
Culver’s plan is seen by some as redundant, since by statute, the Iowa minimum wage is pegged to the federal minimum wage. By law, each time the federal minimum wage increases, the state minimum wage does as well. This ensures that almost all the state’s workers are covered under a minimum wage law.
Culver’s plan apparently includes a proposal to increase the state minimum wage to $7.25 immediately. Doing so, a full-time minimum wage worker would see his or her wages increase by over $4,300 a year. As Governor Culver has pointed out, “From this increase, an Iowa family of three would be able to pay for almost 18 months of heat and electricity, almost two years of child care, or full tuition to earn a degree at an Iowa community college.”
The Governor adds, “Currently, a full-time minimum-wage job does not even allow a family of three to live above the poverty line. The buying power of the minimum wage is at its lowest point in 50 years. Families are really struggling, and it’s time that we take action.”
