Legislature(2007 - 2008)BELTZ 211
02/14/2008 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB183 | |
| SB187 | |
| SB230 | |
| HB233 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | HB 233 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | SB 230 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | SB 187 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| = | SB 183 | ||
SB 187-ALASKA MINIMUM WAGE
1:39:17 PM
CHAIR ELLIS announced SB 187 to be up for consideration.
SENATOR BILL WIELECHOWSKI, sponsor of SB 187, recapped that it
would raise the Alaska minimum wage from $7.15 to $8 per hour in
2009 and adjust it annually for inflation. It would also link it
to any increases in the federal minimum wage by requiring that
Alaska be $1 more than the federal minimum wage.
He then answered questions that came up at the last hearing. One
was regarding a supporting statement about where Alaska ranks
th
among the 50 states in cost of living; overall Alaska ranks 47
- meaning we are the fourth highest.
Another question was asked about how many Alaskans this will
affect. There are currently about 14,000 Alaskans in the minimum
wage category. Most are in combinations of food service and
retail trade, educational services and manufacturing areas.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI explained that the fulltime worker that
earns minimum wage earns about $14,000 per year, which is barely
above poverty level for a single person and it's $3,000 less for
a family of two. Roughly 58 percent of minimum wage earners are
adults with an average age of 38 years old.
1:40:57 PM
SENATOR STEVENS joined the committee.
1:41:06 PM
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said another question was asked about
whether the impact on Alaskans jobs would be negative or
positive. He said Dr. Wolfson testified in the last meeting that
the current body of economic science in this field shows it
would have no negative impacts on jobs or the economy. No one
was able to identify any impacts, particularly when Alaska last
raised its minimum wage in 2002.
SENATOR HOFFMAN asked if any other state has provisions for $1
higher than the federal minimum wage.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI answered no, but other states have a higher
minimum wage than Alaska. Alaska's minimum wage is lower than
any other state on the West Coast. Several other states
currently tie theirs to an inflation rate. Ten states adjust
their minimum wage annually for inflation.
1:42:57 PM
CHAIR ELLIS said the state doesn't have an automatic adjustment
and went for a long time without raising the minimum wage. There
was a lot of pent up frustration because of that and a citizen's
initiative got the process going; the legislature stepped in and
got the initiative off the ballot. He asked Senator Wielechowski
to remind them of the state's history on this issue.
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI recapped that in 2002 raising the minimum
wage to $7.15/hour and having an annual COLA adjustment tied to
the inflation rate was on an initiative signed by 47,000
Alaskans. It was certified by the Lieutenant Governor and was
about to appear on the ballot, but the legislature passed an
identical law. Polls indicated that 80 percent of Alaskans
supported it. His own unscientific survey of people in his
district found over 80 percent supported this proposal.
He said the legislature had already passed a bill similar to
this proposal, but with lower amounts, but before the cost of
living adjustment kicked in for the next year, the legislature
reopened the bill and took it out. This puts it back in. The
$8/hour is a little lower than if the COLA would have been left
in; it might be closer to $8.10 or $8.15.
1:45:25 PM
SENATOR HOFFMAN said he didn't know if he supported everything
in the bill, but he did support moving it on to the next
committee. He moved to pass SB 187 from committee with
individual recommendations and attached fiscal note(s).
1:46:07 PM
SENATOR BUNDE objected. He stated that he understood the intent,
but thought the gains are illusionary because the people who pay
the increased cost of the minimum wage are the people who are
going to be earning the minimum wage. This would bring increased
pressure on people who don't earn minimum wage to say well that
went up, so my salary should go up too, causing an inflationary
spiral. He also opined:
I think as most minimum wage jobs are service jobs,
kind of temporary jobs, that people that are - they'll
get a temporary bump in one pocket and they'll lose it
out of the other. It's illusionary.
1:47:37 PM
A roll call vote was taken. Senators Davis, Hoffman, and Ellis
voted yea; Senators Bunde and Stevens voted nay; so SB 187 moved
to the next committee.
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