Branstad supports ‘modest’ Iowa minimum wage hike

PLEASANT HILL - Gov. Terry Branstad said he supports legislative efforts to pre-empt local entities from setting higher wage minimums than the state, but he also told reporters Monday he would like to see majority Republicans pass a 'modest” increase to the $7.25 statewide hourly minimum to gradually take effect.

'I don't want anything that's going to destroy jobs, but I do think the present minimum wage has been in place for some time and it may be appropriate to do a modest increase over a period of time,” Branstad told his weekly news conference, 'like some of our neighboring states have done.”

A bill on the Iowa House debate calendar would pre-empt local governments from usurping state authority in business and civil rights areas. House Study Bill 92 seeks to bar cities and counties from establishing minimum wage levels or employment regulations, invoking marketing or consumer merchandise sales restrictions or adopting civil rights ordinances that go above and beyond what the Legislature and governor have set as a statewide standard.

The measure came out of committee last week on a 12-9 party line vote after GOP members turned down a Democratic-supported amendment that would have struck the bill entirely and replaced it with provisions to raise Iowa's minimum wage in increments to $8.75 on July 1, $9.75 on Jan. 1, 2018, and $11 on Jan. 1, 2019, along with cost-of-living increases and training wage raises.

Iowa's statewide minimum wage was last increased in 2007 and is the same as the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Officials in Johnson, Linn, Polk and Wapello counties have approved hourly wage minimums in their jurisdictions already in affect or slated to take effect in the future that exceed the state standard, but those actions would be rendered 'void and unenforceable” if the bill is adopted by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

On Monday, Branstad did not specify a new statewide minimum wage, but he said a 'modest” incremental increase might be in order to keep Iowa competitive with neighboring states such as Illinois ($8.25), Minnesota ($9.50 for larger companies and $7.75 for smaller companies), Missouri ($7.70) and Nebraska ($9) that have adopted higher base wage rates than Iowa.

'I want to work with the legislature on this issue, but my preference would be to see a modest increase in the minimum wage, phased in over a period of time,” he said. 'But obviously this is a legislative issue and I always reserve judgment on bills until I see them in their final form.”

During a news conference last week, House Speaker Linda Upmeyer, R-Clear Lake, said the issues covered in HSB92 have always been the functions of state and federal government and not the responsibilities of local entities.

The House speaker said she did not know whether there would be a separate bill to come before representatives to raise the state minimum wage but added, 'I have no doubt that there will be people talking about that during the pre-emption debate.” She added that majority Republicans are not interested in 'grandfathering” in higher minimum wages that have been passed in four counties.

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