Legislators: Don’t take wage increases away

An open letter to Iowa Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix and House Speaker Linda Upmeyer.

We write as elected officials from the first four Iowa counties to have adopted a long-overdue increase in the minimum wage.

We have proudly supported increases in the minimum wage beyond $10 in our counties, and are dismayed that some state leaders are now threatening to undo or prevent such increases - effectively lowering thousands of Iowans' wages.

Collectively, our counties are home to more than one third of the state's private sector jobs and some of Iowa's fastest-growing communities. As county supervisors, we heeded calls from our constituents to take action because we could not afford to ignore the crisis created by low wages in our communities. One out of every six of our kids lives in poverty. For nearly a decade, our state government has refused to address this crisis - leaving Iowa families behind while 29 other states, including five bordering Iowa, took action to raise their minimum wages. So local government had to step up.

Over the next two years, Wapello County's minimum wage will rise in stages to $10.10, Linn County's to $10.25, and Polk County's to $10.75. And Johnson County's minimum wage is now $10.10 after having already increased twice - to $8.20 in 2015, then $9.15 in 2016. Subsequent annual increases in Johnson, Wapello, and Polk Counties will be based on inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

We intervened because too many of our neighbors work two to three jobs, yet still cannot get ahead. Families double up because they cannot afford rents. They use food banks to get through the week. Cars go unrepaired. Kids go to school without coats and with shoes that do not fit. One small anomaly - an illness, an unexpected repair - and a family's world comes crashing down.

Raising the minimum wage has improved the lives of those already affected, and upcoming increases will positively affect more families and our local economies. Why would the State take that away? Does the State of Iowa really want to take money out of the pockets of tens of thousands of the state's lowest-paid workers?

As low-wage workers have more money to spend, consumer demand - responsible for 70 percent of the U.S. economy - is creating jobs. Grocery stores, restaurants, repair shops, clothing stores, etc. all have more customers with more money. They need to hire to meet demand. That means jobs.

Other jurisdictions have seen increases in employment follow increases in the minimum wage; in Iowa we are beginning to see that too in locations where increases have been in effect for over a year. Some say jobs will move elsewhere. But minimum wage jobs are primarily service sector jobs - in retail, hospitality, fast food, etc. - which follow population and demand, and cannot move to China. So far, local statistics reflect this reality: unemployment in Johnson County remains less than 2.5 percent, one of the lowest rates in the whole country!

Whenever possible, public policy decisions should be based upon data and assessment of public benefit. Both the data and the benefits here are clear: raising the minimum wage is good for workers, families, and for our local economies. It's why across the state, 69 percent of voters surveyed by the Iowa Poll favor a minimum-wage increase.

Rather than threats to undo the many recognizable benefits of local increases, we suspect Iowa voters would prefer hearing about how state leaders will encourage similar increases in Iowa's other 95 counties, where they are just as badly needed and deserved.

Mike Carberry, Kurt Friese, Lisa Green-Douglass, Janelle Rettig, Rod Sullivan, Johnson County Board of Supervisors

James Houser, Ben Rogers, Stacey Walker, Linn County Board of Supervisors

Angela Connolly, Tom Hockensmith, John Mauro, Polk County Board of Supervisors

Greg Kenning, Jerry Parker, Steve Siegel, Wapello County Board of Supervisors