WESTFIELD – Having not met since July, lawmakers in Boston are looking to get down to business on a list of hot button issues, chief among them further gun control measures, large scale welfare reform and a potential raise in the state minimum wage.
While the Commonwealth already boasts among the strictest gun control policies in the country, and welfare reform has been deemed a top priority by both the Republican minority and Democrat super-majority in Boston, a call from the Bay State’s representation in Washington D.C. for an increase in Massachusetts’ minimum wage, already among the ten highest wages nationally, is likely to be a large item which the state house will look to take action on.
Following statements made last month by Senator’s Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey in conjunction with efforts from a progressive coalition called “Raise Up Massachusetts” seeking an increase in minimum wage and guaranteed earned sick time, opponents and proponents have lined up on each side of the debate in the state house.
While employees at large box stores such as Walmart and Home Depot, workers who would most benefit from a hike, are bound by strict corporate regulations regarding the media, local advocates and opponents of the potential wage increase haven’t been shy about voicing their concerns.
“We don’t have a pros and cons stance,” said Jeff Ciuffreda, president of the Affiliated Chambers of Commerce of Greater Springfield (ACCGS). “January ’08 was the last time there was a minimum wage increase, but there are usually efforts made every year in the legislature to raise it. Over ten states have already increased theirs… but you have to be careful when you increase it, as it puts pressure on all the wages above it.”
“We’re sending a questionnaire out to our members this week or next,” he said. “I think there are hearings coming up, and we (Chambers of Commerce statewide) have always weighed in.”
Regarding the timing of a potential increase, Ciuffreda warns legislators that the economic standing of the state may not be as great as they are letting on.
“This is a very mild recovery, and we should be very cautious,” he said. “It’s a steady recovery, and a change in minimum wage could change that.”
“The opposition says it will cost jobs, but you can’t live on the current minimum wage,” said Frank Rossi, executive director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 404 in Springfield regarding the current $8 per hour rate. “The argument doesn’t hold up.”
“I look at it as a global economy,” he said. “One state trying to decrease it’s cost of living, when states do so much business with each other. When was the last time you saw a state do that (decrease cost of living)?”
The issue goes beyond dollars and cents for Rossi, especially since shifts in the economic climate of both the state and country have changed the jobs outlook.
“An increase must be made, especially since many of these minimum wage jobs are part time,” he said.
On the floor of the legislature, the voices crying for an increase have been resoundingly louder than their counterparts.
“I totally support an increase in the state minimum wage,” said Sen. Benjamin Downing (D-Pittsfield), who co-sponsored Senate bill 878, which would increase the minimum wage to $11.00 an hour while also indexing it to inflation. “An increase is long overdue, and those working in minimum wage jobs, who work hard and play by the rules, shouldn’t be wondering where their next meal is coming from.”
“The arguments against increases in the minimum wage have been consistently proven false,” he said. “which doesn’t mean we should dismiss them, but the data has shown that raising minimum wage is good for the economy.”
Among the 45 states which comply with the federal minimum wage (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee do not have a set minimum wage), Massachusetts has one of the top minimum wages nationally, tied with California at $8.00 an hour, ahead of only Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and Illinois at $8.25, Vermont at $8.60, Oregon at $8.95, and Washington at $9.19, the highest minimum wage in the United States. The state of Nevada also holds a minimum wage of $8.25 for workers with no health insurance benefits provided by the employer, while maintaining a $7.25 minimum wage for those workers who accept health insurance benefits.
Massachusetts ranked as the country’s eighth most expensive state to live in in a June list composed by CNBC.
Using data based on the Council for Community and Economic Research’s Cost of Living Index for the first quarter of 2013, the list marked the average home price in metro Boston, the state’s largest metropolitan area, at $478,200, while also listing a half gallon of milk at $2.71, a pound of ground beef at $4.29, the average total cost of a monthly energy bill in the state at $248.63, and the average cost for a visit to a doctor at $149.00.
Ciuffreda believes that a rush around the country to increase individual state’s minimum wages shouldn’t influence the Bay State.
“It’s caught fire throughout the country,” he said. “But for us to do it because of national trends is wrong. We really need to look at this thing. Labor is very well organized, but I sense that the legislature will listen to and appreciate hearing from both sides.”
