Widener Students on Politics

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State and Local Minimum Wage Podcast Transcript

It seems as though every few years the issue of raising the minimum wage is all over the news, with pundits on each side arguing about why it is either the best or worst idea they have ever heard. However this coverage rarely ventures deeper than partisan talking points meaning that the public often does not gain a deeper understanding of the issue. In this episode of the podcast we’ll take a deeper look at state and local minimum wages and try to not only understand the issue but also some of the controversies which surround it.

Before we can talk about the various opinions on the minimum wage we have to understand the policy which lies at the heart of the issue. In its most basic sense, state and local governments are allowed to set a minimum wage which all workers in their jurisdiction must receive. Generally these minimums will be higher in cities or states with higher costs of living, with the idea that setting a higher minimum compensates for the higher costs associated with living in that area. However, as the more observant among us will notice, there is also a national minimum wage within the US. This federal minimum was crafted with the same intent as its counterparts at the state and local level, aiming to ensure that everyone in the entire country receives reasonable compensation for the labor that they do. As a result, this federal minimum has become the de-facto minimum wage that everyone earns nationwide unless they happen to live in a state or municipality which has set a higher minimum.

The true issue of minimum wage policy arises when state and local governments move to increase whatever it may be in their area. But wait, if the federal government has already set a minimum for the country why should we still let state and local governments argue over what they think it should be? Unfortunately our lives cannot be this simple. Due to the nature of the our economy certain states and localities will have higher costs of living than others, which naturally leads many in these higher cost areas to also desire a higher minimum wage. As a result state and local governments are the levels with the greatest level of knowledge of the specific living costs of their areas. Therefore they are often the levels of government which propose increases to the minimum wage in order to respond to higher living costs in their areas and respond to the requests of their constituents.

The strongest supporters  of minimum wage increases are low wage workers and those involved with labor movements. This makes sense since these  groups  benefit the most from increases and are often workers who are clustered in cities where living costs are high and low income jobs are prevalent. These workers are not the only beneficiaries of a higher minimum wage, governments also benefit from wage hikes as it leads to low income workers getting more money from their employers and less money from government programs. This means that the government is able to spend less on these welfare programs which they would obviously be in favor of.

But if the workers and the government want a higher minimum wage, why then is there so much debate every time an increase to the minimum is proposed? Who are the people opposing these increases? These opposition members are of course the people who will bear the cost of the increase, the business owners. Business owners obviously do not want to see an increase in their labor costs as this will have a negative impact on their bottom line. These business owners are also often well connected which allows them to influence local politicians away from supporting an increase to the minimum wage which only prolongs the fights and debates over minimum wage increases at the state or local level.

So how can we decide which side is right? What are their arguments?

Pro/Con Debate

Our pro/con debate for this podcasts focuses on whether the legalization of prescription heroin would be a solution to the drug crisis. Here are two perspectives.

Pros of increasing the federal minimum wage

The minimum wage has not kept up with inflation in the United States. Purchasing power (the “bang people get for their buck” or the amount of goods they can purchase with their currency) peaked in 1968 and would be the equivalent to about a $11.16 minimum wage in today’s economy. Purchasing power has since been on a decline and has not been able to keep up with the inflation rate. A boost in the wages would be a potential boost in purchasing power and catching up a bit to inflation.

Raising the minimum wage could help boost the economy. Naturally, putting more money in people’s pockets would in turn put more money back into the economy through more consumer spending. For example, if someone made more they may not have to be as conservative with their spending.

An increase in minimum wage would potentially be able to reduce government welfare spending. Generally, those who are low-income workers will earn more money with this increase, decreasing the eligibility and dependence on benefits provided by the government. In 2014, the Center for American Progress reported that an increase in federal minimum wage would reduce the spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program by $4.6 billion . The Economic Policy Institute claims that  1.7 million Americans would no longer be dependent on government benefits, resulting in a decrease of $7.6 billion in spending by the government on income support programs.

Small business owners support a higher minimum wage. A national poll of small business owners conducted by the American Sustainable Business Council found that 60 percent of small business owners support increasing the federal minimum wage to $12 by 2020 and indexing it to inflation. More money means more money to spend and this is what small businesses thrive off of.

Cons of Increasing the Federal Minimum Wage

Raising the minimum wage will ultimately force businesses to compensate for the lost revenue, and this burden will not be placed upon wealthy CEOs. Companies will pass the cost of increased wages along to either their consumers or their employees. To pay for increased wages, some companies will raise their prices, while others may lower the quality of the goods or services that they provide. If companies choose to maintain their prices, they will compensate for the increased expense by laying off some of their workers and either increasing the responsibility of the remaining workers, or simply increasing their utilization of technology to complete basic tasks previously handled by minimum wage employees.

While major corporations will simply adjust to the new minimum wage by raising prices or laying off workers, small businesses will not acclimate so easily. Small businesses have less revenue than large corporations, and many cannot afford to pay their employees the increased wages while also paying their other expenses. This is further complicated when considering that small businesses have fewer employees to take on the responsibilities of those laid off, making it difficult for these businesses to function if an increased minimum wage forces them to downsize.

Poor areas of the country would suffer greatly from the increase of the federal minimum wage. Higher concentration of minimum wage workers reside in poorer areas, while the opposite is true for the workers in richer areas. A region is deemed poor or rich by examining the cost of living of that area. For example, in 2015 Mississippi had a cost of living at 83.5% of the country’s average, while Hawaii had a cost of living at 168.6% of the country’s average. Poorer areas would need to pay proportionally more than the richer areas and will struggle to provide the increased dues to the current employees. The increased minimum cannot be compensated with an increase of the price of consumer goods since people in the area would not be able to afford them. Thus, the minimum wage change would cripple poor areas.

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Scientific Studies and the EPA

by Julia Venturelli

 

This article explains new rules that will significantly change the role of the EPA. Scott Pruitt leading the agency announced a new set of standards when the EPA purposes new policies. This new change is that they are restricting the use of scientific studies. These are the studies that they use as data when conducting research in order to have evidence of why we need certain policies. Science is fundamental to the EPA so taking it away would leave the EPA powerless. This may be exactly what the Trump Administration wants, a powerless EPA. They say the reason for this change is so that the public could be able to see the certain studies that are being conducted in live time and making the organization “transparent”. Making it available to the public causes issues because the article explains that “much research relies on confidential health data from study subjects”. This type of regulation on the EPA is going to gridlock them and the studies that they will conduct will not be the cutting edge recent debate topics that the public wants. They will be the watered-down version of things that people either do not care about or things that there is already knowledge about. The Trump administration is really tarnishing the EPA and completely destroying any power that they once had. What do you think about these new regulations?

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Scott Pruitt, Data, & the EPA

by Justin Welsh

 

As we know, the Trump administration is pulling back from environmental issues and as of Tuesday the 23rd the Environmental Protection Agency announced new regulation that will restrict certain scientific studies. The E.P.A. will demand that data, pertaining to air and water regulations, collected by scientists would now have to be publicly available, even from the past. This regulation interferes with scientific studies because their work depends on confidentiality with patient’s public health records.

Scott Pruitt is leading the way on this proposal and claims “the science that we use is going to be transparent, it’s going to be reproducible.” This will limit the E.P.A.’s ability to regulate carbon emissions, air pollution and pesticides. If the policy is enacted it would be hard for a future administration to reserve the decision. The opposing side has vowed to challenge this in court and an environmental law professor from Harvard believes Scott Pruitt would be acting “arbitrary and capricious”.

Supporters of the plan are chemical and fossil-fuel industries and climate change denialists. Chemical and fossil-fuels directly harm humans and lead to premature deaths so they both fall in the category of public health. Sadly, these industries will reap the most benefit if this goes through and the cause the most harm.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/climate/epa-science-transparency-pruitt.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fclimate&action=click&contentCollection=climate&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

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New Jersey Takes a Huge Step Towards Renewable Energy

by George Tahopoulos

On Thursday of this week New Jersey drastically changed its energy sector. They passed two bills that set new goals for increasing the amount of renewable energy that goes into the state. The deal consists of New Jersey saying that by 2030 they will generate 50% of their electricity from renewable energy. The bill was also passed with a 300 million dollar subsidy to the states remaining nuclear power plants which, some environmental groups are not exactly enthused by this because it starts another argument to whether we should move over to nuclear energy even though the danger is high and it is practically impossible to dispose of the waste.

People like Jeff Tittel the director of the New Jersey Sierra Club think that the bill is purely about the subsidy and that the quota set on renewable energy is a diversion to make you not see what is actually going on. In my opinion I believe that by 2030 most of the country will already be on renewable energy so I feel as if the nuclear industry is not mad about the bill being passed.

All of this is of course in response to President Trump taking us out of the Paris agreement. Since then there has been much outrage in the environmental community and senators have started to take matters in their own hands. This is just one of the 14 states whose senators announced that they would uphold the agreement and push forward on their own.

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Natural Gas Politics in Colorado

by Michael Patterson

Government officials in La Plata Country, Colorado are working to address an issue that has residents concerned. Natural gas wells in the region are found to be emitting high amounts of methane and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This discovery came after a 2014 NASA study found that La Plata County had the highest level of methane in the country (Plautz para. 2).

La Plata County Commissioner Gwen Lachelt has been actively involved with protecting communities from environmental harm caused by these natural gas wells. She approached Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) to get his vote for limiting the use of gas wells in Colorado communities. Senator McCain voted against the removal of the Obama-era rule, which limits the amount of methane being emitted on public land. However, some people have criticized Lachelt for her role in the environmental movement. Some say that her trip to Washington is evidence that she is using her role in public office for personal gain because her trip was funded by an environmental group that she also leads. The issue of oil and politics will be a debate for several years to come.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/la-plata-county-recall-methane_us_5ab12b39e4b0eb3e2b30dd51

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Air Quality in Delaware

by Travis Turner
A recent test done by the American Lung Association discovered that air quality has been decreasing in several parts of Delaware. The three counties all scored poorly on the high ozone days category. Kent county received a C, Sussex received a D, and New Castle received a F. However, both Kent and Sussex received an A for their particle pollution, while New Castle received a D.  Kevin Stewart who is the Environmental Health Director believes these low ratings are due to several main factors. The biggest cause of this is that I – 95 runs right through most of New Castle. Cars, trucks and buses are big contributors to ozone pollution. New Castle is also home to a fairly large commuter work force. Another interesting cause of the pollution can be considered a negative externality. Delaware is located downwind to several high polluting businesses. Since they are not in the state borders, unfortunately there is not much Delaware can do about it.
I believe this air quality issue needs to be addressed on a national level for any significant change to occur. We currently take clean air for granted and we really shouldn’t. There are countries out there who do not have the luxury of clean air. Countries like China deal with smog and acid rain due to their high levels of pollution. Realistically I don’t think we will ever end up in their position, but that doesn’t mean we should not put some effort into improving our current air quality.