Comments due by Feb. 8, 2015
OLYMPIA — A bill to boost the state minimum wage to $12-an-hour over four years passed out of a House committee Thursday, but not before an opposed GOP lawmaker ripped minimum-wage activists as entitled in a “kids-these-days” diatribe.
Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg, the ranking Republican on the House Labor Committee, argued low-wage workers need to take responsibility for their own earning power.
“If you want more money, get more education. If you want more money, develop more skills. If you want more money, develop more experience,” Manweller said before the vote on House Bill 1355, which would raise the state’s minimum wage, already the nation’s highest at $9.47 an hour, to $12 an hour by 2019.
Manweller said the Legislature has “bent over backwards” to try to provide college and training opportunities for low-income workers. “You can do it online, on weekends,” he said.
Manweller lamented “how things have changed” from days when workers who testified before the Legislature “had calluses on their hands” from building battleships and highways. That generation “commanded your respect,” he said.
“Now today we gather up 20 college kids, give them a green T-shirt and a bingo game, and they parade us with stories about what the world owes them,” Manweller said, referring to activists who’d recently mocked testimony of opponents of raising the minimum wage by playing a game of “business lobby” bingo.
“Thank God my dad wasn’t in the room,” Manweller continued. Rather than complain about his wages, “he made himself worth $20 an hour, not telling other people that they ought to give him $20 an hour.”
“I would submit to you… my father’s way was better,” he said.
Manweller’s speech drew a rebuttal from the labor committee chairman, Rep. Mike Sells, D-Everett.
“When the bottom rung of the ladder is broken, people have a hard time paying for the types of things you suggest they do,” Sells said, noting the state has forced universities to drastically raise tuition due to budget cuts.
“The promise of an opportunity society is that people get paid a fair day’s wage for an honest day’s work,” Sells said. “Your father would have understood that.”
Sells said the minimum wage would be over $20-an-hour if it had been indexed for inflation over the decades. “It’s not. And its time for us to act,” he said.
The minimum-wage bill passed out of the committee on a party-line 4-3 vote. The panel also approved another union-priority bill, HB 1356, requiring businesses to provide a minimum amount of paid sick leave.
The fates of both measures remains unclear in the Legislature. Last year, a $12 minimum wage bill failed to even pass the Democratic-controlled House. A sick-leave measure passed the House but died in the Senate that year.
22 comments:
A $12 minimum wage seems outrageous. I do not think the economy could keep up with such a high minimum wage. In the article it says if people want their wages higher, they should get an education. I think that is much easier said than done. Depending on the environment or social class one is brought up in, they may not have the means to attend college. After all, nowadays college tuitions are through the roof. Some colleges offer a lower tuition and online classes, which has been an effort to help people of low-income earn a degree. Personally, I would not be attending Pace if my mother did not work there. I am aware how expensive it would be if that wasn't the case. Rep. Manweller seems to be very one sided in this article. He is adamant on keeping the minimum wage as is, and shows no sympathy for the protestors. The term opportunity society is mentioned as a response to Manweller's argument. An honest day's work calls for fair day's wage. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. Maybe $12 is a bit of a stretch, how bout $10?
This article discusses the bill proposing to increase minimum wage to 12 dollars an hour within the next four years. I agree with Matt Manweller in that "If you want more money, get more education. If you want more money, develop more skills. If you want more money, develop more experience.” Low-income workers need to take responsibility for their earning power, and work hard to achieve it. Additionally, I also agree that low-income workers are offered significantly more opportunities to work toward an increase in their wages as opposed to many years ago. I believe that in this generation those earning low-income wages have a misguided notion that they are owed everything rather than willing to work for it.
However, on the other hand I do understand the argument that due to increasing tuition prices it is difficult to obtain some of the skills needed in the workforce but those working for a long period of time, no matter the wage, develop experience and with experience come skills.
I believe that people in favor of the increasing minimum wage, like Mike Sells, fail to acknowledge that although education and some resources may be pricey now an increase in minimum wage for all workers will only increase the price of the cost of living and everyday items. It is a viscous cycle where everyone wants to maintain their profits and their cost of living except when one price goes up, they all do.
Its really hard to support one self at $9.67 an hour which after tax effectively comes to $7.5. Most of students dont even apply for tax returns. Cost of commute went up from $1.5 per ride to $2.5 and minimum wage is still at static rate. One of the reason that economy is not growing is that lower class is not able to spend their income on luxuries. $12 is possible if the government improves the tax system by rooting out unfair exemptions for the rich and overhauling the welfare system. In a capitalistic economy however it would be very difficult to regulate it. One example of companies working around is employee medical insurance. Employees' working hours' were cut from 8 to 6 in an attempt to save medical insurance charges. Similarly corporations would attempt to downsize in an effort to control increasing wages which is much worse.
The college system needs to be more lean and student friendly. How can college student earn minimum wage and pay their tuition fee when tuition fee these days is sky high. Now a days only federal government is providing support and the state is not aiding in subsidizing education.
I also believe that merely increasing minimum wage would not solve the problem. We need to use technology and human resource skills effectively to improve our economic production. Improve the quality life for lower and middle class and provide them facilities. May be then minimum wage of $10 would be sufficient enough.
This article makes very interesting points. You have two sides, one that says we should not be raising minimum wage to $12 and one that says we should. In my opinion, $12 an hour is a little too high for people who have not gone to college and are just working a simple job. I understand that for some people that is their way of income and they have families to support. That is why I am not disagreeing with the fact that minimum wage should go up. I don't think it should shoot up to $12 an hour but maybe $10 an hour. In the article, Rep. Manweller is against minimum wage going up and says that people should go to school and get an education if they want more money. However, I don't know if he realizes how expensive it is to go to school. Aside from tuition, you have to pay for books, commute, and day to day expenses. I do think minimum wage should go up, considering the standard of living has gone and also because college classes have become more costly. That is basically what Sells is saying in the article. As far as minimum wage going to $12 an hour I think it would be too much for the economy to handle. Manweller says that times have changed from when workers had "calluses on their hands" from working harder than our generation. He has a very good point there.I don't think that people should expect for it to go up but rather they should be working hard and making themselves worth that raise.
This article has 2 very different sides that both have arguments supporting it. Minimum wage at $12 may be too high for the economy to keep up with it, but minimum wage at $9.67 (with no tax taken out) is too low. Matt Manweller states that "If you want more money, get more education. If you want more money, develop more skills. If you want more money, develop more experience.” With education costs being so high these days, how is one supposed to pay for their education with such a low salary. I think their are many alternatives to this situation. If one is trying to get an education so they can increase their skills and earn more, maybe their job should give education benefits rather than increasing the minimum wage. This allows those who want an education to get one, without rewarding those who aren't getting an education. This $12 minimum wage should be worked for and if people don't want to enhance their skills by attending college than they do not deserve it.
The minimum wage has been a topic of interest over the last couple of months. Many people in the country believe that the minimum wage should be raised to about 12 dollars an hour over a 4 year period. People are demanding higher wages for the same amount of work that they have been doing for years.
The biggest argument is that the minimum wage has not grown along with the inflation rate over the past decades making it extremely difficult for people to live decent lives. Legislators argue that they have passed bills and given people the opportunity to enhance their skills and obtain an education in order to make their time more valuable but in the nature of this generation we believe that we just deserve the right to higher wages.
I believe that raising the minimum wages will do more harm than good for people across the country. If the minimum wage is raised that means that owner’s will have to pay more money to employees dipping further into their pockets, which could lead to less hours for employees or higher prices for customers in order to compensate for the higher wages. Either way I don’t see owners just taking profit cuts in order to pay higher wages for the same amount of work that has been done in the past.
If the minimum wage is raised to 12 dollars an hours I would expect to see some sort of change in order to compensate for the higher wages. This my seem like a great fix in theory but like the Obamacare act it could cause more problems than good.
The article explains both Rep. Manweller’s and Rep. Sells’ point of views on raising the minimum wage to $12. Both parties provide valid points in explaining why it should be raised or why it should not. Manweller states that minimum wage means minimum skill. He says that if you want more money, you need to develop more education, skills, and experience. Personally, I agree with him. I always believed that a minimum wage job requires minimum skill. So because of this, one should receive minimum pay, which is not necessarily enough to get by. Manweller mentions it is not impossible for a worker to better themselves, “Legislature has “bent over backwards” to try to provide college and training opportunities for low-income workers. “You can do it online, on weekends.”” I believe that if you truly want to better yourself, the opportunity is there. However, Rep. Sells also makes a good argument on why minimum wage should be raised. Sells said that minimum wage would be over $20 an hour if it were indexed for inflation over the decades. He also said that in an “opportunity society, people should be paid a fair day’s wage for an honest day’s work.” Yes, some of these minimum wage jobs are more difficult than others, but that doesn't mean you should be paying the workers generously. If something truly has to be done, rather than raise the wage, I believe better health and fringe benefits would be more beneficial to both the employee and their family.
I agree with Rep. Matt Manweller's statement, "If you want more money develop more skills and experience," although I believe this philosophy, I disagree with his ideas on minimum wage. I believe the minimum wage should be raised because not many individuals have access to schooling, whether it be financial issues or a corrupt home. Also teenagers and young adults who are just starting off need to start saving for college or paying back loans, and increasing tuition rates are not helping. Also, increasing the minimum wage could help the economy because it may increase spending, therefor increasing the money supply. Lastly, raising minimum wage could help individuals gain access to schooling so they can improve their knowledge of skills, and gain experience to make more money in the long run.
The usual trend with the minimum wage is a gradual increase overtime. Jumping from $9.67 an hour to 12 is a big jump. Also $12 an hour is pretty good pay and the key word behind minimum wage is "minimum". The work being performed under minimum wage is not high skilled labor; it is low skill low pay type of work. I did not approve of the "get an education on the nights and weekends" statement. Most of the people who are lower class and working minimum wage jobs cannot afford to pay for college or an online education. Unfortunately ITT Tech or The University of Phoenix will not make you rich or get a very high paying job. College is expensive form of education nowadays; tuition prices are through the roof. All in all, I believe that the minimum wage should be higher but it should increase over time. The governments budget may not be support the higher minimum wage right now.
The minimum wage amount has been in dispute for quite sometime now. Some people such as Manweller believe that the minimum wage is at a fair price at the moment and if people want to increase their salary they should earn it by getting more knowledge, developing their skills and experience.
People such as Sells, however, believe that the minimum wage should be increased since it is hard for some people to receive a good education, let alone pay for one now that college tuitions have risen. It's very difficult for people to get by on minimum wage salaries, especially when they have other commitments like going to school or being a parent.
I personally agree with Manweller. Although the minimum wage is a low salary for some people, they can increase their salary by improving themselves. Furthermore, even though it can be hard for people with minimum wages to pay expenses like college tuition or rent, universities and the government have implemented various policies/strategies to help accommodate and solve the problem as best they can.
- Adam Modak
The topic of minimum wage has been under huge controversy lately. Many people think that it should be 12$ an hour while others strongly appose this. I like aspects of both sides of the situation. With the price of living going up every year the minimum wage is not enough to support yourself in the world today. I also agree that these minimum wage jobs aren't for skilled or highly educated workers. If you aren't trying to get an education or increase your skills than maybe you do deserve this minimum wage. It is almost impossible to pay for education with a minimum wage job though. This controversy will take a long time before it is settled I believe. These minimum wage workers do need to increase their skills or education if they want more pay.
This article recommends a higher minimum wage wage for all workers. i don't believe this should be passed because it only helps workers that are making minimum wage. i believe that the people who are fully grown and still have minimum wage jobs deserve to be making minimum wage because they could have taken time to get an education and if they couldn't do that they could have taken time in order to develop skills and earn a better job. i don't believe that theses wages should be passed and i think that people should go learn more skills or get an education.
This article discusses the controversy of raising the minimum wage to 12 dollars an hour within the next four years. I personally feel as though raising the minimum wage to 12 dollars an hour is preposterous and will only create further inflation. Most want the minimum wage to be raised because they feel as though the amount they are currently making is not enough to support their living costs. Although many don’t take into consideration is low paying jobs such as McDonalds do not require much education and are less important, therefore they pay their employees low wages. If an employee’s salary was raised to 12 dollars an hour it would require the business to pay them more money, therefore lowering the profits they make. If the minimum wage was raised to that extent prices of goods and services would also be raised to compensate for the profits being lost to the increase of minimum wages. All raising the minimum wage would do is create inflation and cause low income employees to become in the same place they once were before. As Mathew Manwalker says “If you want more money get more education,” meaning that higher paying jobs require more education. I feel as though even though it may be hard to pay for a proper education it is an investment like anything else that has the potential to benefit many in the future.
Th promise of the price of minimum wage going up could mean many things. For low-wage workers this could be a major increase and a possibility of a better life. Some argue that people should work harder for their money and develop new skills to bring them up in the world, but it's not always that simple. Coming from a middle class family college is already a struggle to pay for, nonetheless having to hold your own or supporting a family. Also, the people voting for this act are most likely wealthy politicians that wouldn't be benefit one way or another. It's no surprise they wouldn't support a higher minimum wage.
This article debates on a bill that’ll ultimately boost the state minimum wages to $12 an hour over the next four years. However, Republican Matt Manweller argued that low wage workers should have to take responsibility for their earning powers and the bill shouldn’t be passed. Matt believed that if low waged workers wanted a higher income they should “get more education” and also “develop more skill and experience.” Even though this can be true, I believe in the economy that we live in today it’s much harder for a person to achieve such measures while receiving a minimum wage income. Representative Matt has a point, however, those points are easier said than done; with the cost of attending colleges or other beneficial programs that a person may need to better their opportunity is not easily attainable while working for a minimum wage income. Manweller also states that a person who wants to better their financial status should take online college courses. Another valid point from Representative Matt, but not everyone can be able to take such online courses due to the fact that they might have other responsibilities that prevent them from taking such useful courses. For example, some people have to work multiple jobs just to provide for their family, or some people may have children they have to take care of and that alone forces them to put their wants or needs on hold just to support their children. I believe the boost to minimum wages isn’t such a bad idea, especially for those who need the money and work real hard to support their families. This boost in wages can benefit a lot of individuals who find it challenging to put food on the table and also encourage others to go out and find job opportunities if they can’t necessarily obtain jobs that’ll pay higher wages.
The discussion of minimum wages has been a topic of conversation for a long time. I have mixed opinions about raising the minimum wage to $12. I think it would be beneficial and a blessing for the people who have gone out into the world and received an education. These are the people who are and were trying to succeed in the "real world" and succeed to be able to support themselves. The people who have always worked hard for their money, in my opinion, deserve to have a minimum wage of $12.
On the other hand, I do not agree that the people who have done nothing to try and help themselves succeed in the world deserve to make $12 an hour. If they have not gone to college, have not received an education, and have a minimum paying job do not deserve the $12 an hour wage. In my opinion, everyone should work hard for the money that they have and will earn. You should not be rewarded with $12 an hour minimum wage without having tried to benefit yourself. Many people today, who have gone to college and work hard, struggle to negotiate a $12 paying job, yet we would willingly and legally have to give people who do not deserve this money the money right off the bat?
I agree with Sells when he said, “The promise of an opportunity society is that people get paid a fair day’s wage for an honest day’s work.” People who do not earn their money should not be handed money willingly. You should work hard everyday to earn the salary that you wish to have, whether $9 or $12.
A $12 minimum wage seems to be a ridiculously high salary for people who are working a simple job with no education or degree necessary. These low-income workers are indefinitely given opportunities and alternative options to obtaining a higher income. It is understandable that the minimum wage is the only form of financial support for some families, but that does not mean that the world owes them a $12 minimum wage as Manweller said. Although tuition for education has gone up, there are multiple opportunities for an education for cheaper prices. As Manweller said, there are online courses and cheaper training opportunities, as well as many other options, to provide low income workers with the opportunity to enhance their skills and education. This is not to say i disagree with raising the minimum wage, because I am sympathetic to those who are not as fortunate to attend big private institution for four years. But in having such a high jump in minimum wage, the message being sent out is that you don't have to work as hard as everyone else just to earn a fair salary. I also believe that such a high minimum wage will be more harmful than beneficial to the economy and indefinitely the employers.
This article discusses the battle in congress to raise the minimum wage to 12 dollars an hour. I do not agree with raising the minimum wage. I believe that someone's worth is based on society's want of their skills. A new mechanic who is learning how to fix a car should not earn as much as the 20 year mechanic who already knows how to fix a car. Society pays more to the people who can provide more. If a low wage worker is entitled to more money than he should leave the job he is at and find a higher paying job.
I believe that a $12 minimum wage is more than reasonable. The number one reason why is the fact that if we accounted for inflation, the minimum wage should be above $20. Therefore, the right-wing has no right to pull the "kids these days" line. Back in their day, they made more than minimum wage workers today, comparatively speaking.
Also, as mentioned in the article, college tuition is higher than it has ever been. Back when these republicans were students, they did not have to deal with the monstrous loans that currently exist. I think $12 is a good place to start for the new minimum wage, so the Right needs to learn to deal with the extra pay. As someone who recently worked for a job that payed below minimum wage, this idea sounds great to me.
After having read the article it shows two very valid points on whether the minimum wage should be raised to 12 dollars. In my opinion i think that is a little crazy. Its called minimum for a reason you have to work hard and motivate yourself to make more money. Republican Matt Manweller said something that is very true he said that"if you want more money, get more education. If you want more money, develop more skills. If you want more money, develop more experience." By not making a lot of money you should put yourself in a situation to make more money for the future by learning specific skills or by going to college. All the opportunities are there for people it just takes some pushing to make them happen.
Raising the minimum wage to $12 could have both positive and negative effects. While you have a group of people that are educated and skilled, like Matt Manweller suggests, it is difficult to find a job that allows them to apply said skills. This forces them to get a job where they will only be making minimum wage. However I do not think that someone working a job that really anyone could do is entitled to make $12 an hour, regardless of skill or education if it does not enhance their work performance. If a high schooler and a recent college graduate or someone that has work experience but has been laid off, apply for the same job at a fast food restaurant, they should be paid the same. Higher education and previous work experience is not needed to work effectively in setting. Both of these may be added benefits to the company however I do not see it increasing their productivity so much as to be paid $12. I realize that it can be hard to support yourself and/or a family only making $8.75 (for New Yorkers).
What I believe about the minimum wage, is that it should be adjusted to a more preferable living wage. A living wage would be able to support those that are brought into the circumstances of not being able to advance themselves monetarily. In defense of this, I think that a living wage would help individuals prosper further and the large number of people that would be on this living wage, as consumers with more disposable income and savings, further the nation's economy. Now to counter argue Rep. Manweller, not all people have the chance to go into a place of further education to benefit themselves more monetarily. This mindset is what has drawn said people into near poverty by just letting them live with the current minimum wage. I would not know the correct statistic for the "living" wage, but an increase in the minimum wage should be in place.
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