Black Hawk County next to review setting local minimum wage

WATERLOO - Black Hawk County will begin reviewing whether to adopt a countywide minimum wage.

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Tuesday to create an advisory committee to study and make recommendations.

Supervisor Chris Schwartz, who made raising the minimum wage a campaign issue, proposed creating the committee.

'The federal government and state government have failed to raise the minimum wage since 2007 with the last increase going into effect in 2009,” Schwartz said. 'We've been left with no choice but to take action at the county level.”

Schwartz said the current $7.25 hourly minimum wage in Iowa is a 'poverty wage.”

The committee would have 11 members appointed by the supervisors, with preference given to members representing a broad base of constituents including labor unions, low-income workers, businesses and employers, academia, social service providers and city elected officials.

Supervisor Linda Laylin voted against creating a committee before considering what other groups should be included in the study.

Johnson, Linn, Polk and Wapello counties have all voted to phase in increases for their local minium wages.

Lawmakers also have discussed setting a statewide minimum wage that would overrule the local ordinances.

Should that happen, the Black Hawk County committee likely would disband. It was unclear when the supervisors would appoint the committee members.