Iowa Democrats pushing for $8.75 minimum wage

DES MOINES – Legislative Democrats say they plan next week to move a bill out of committee that would boost the state's minimum wage to $8.75 an hour by July 1, 2016 – providing a 75-cent hourly raise to the current $7.25 minimum on July 1 and a second 75-cent jump one year later.

Provisions of Senate Study Bill 1151 have been scaled back from a previous three-year plan to go to a $10.10 hourly minimum as a recognition of what is doable in a split-control Legislature where Republicans control the Iowa House and the governorship, said Senate President Pam Jochum, D-Dubuque.

'We believe we can garner bipartisan support at $8.75,” Jochum told a Statehouse news conference, '$8.75 is a whole lot better than $7.25 and it is going to be about $3,000 more dollars in the pocket of working Iowans.”

Sen. Tom Courtney, D-Burlington, who has been pushing the $10.10 hourly minimum said he still supports that level but $8.75 per hour is what the 26 majority Democrats in the Senate agreed to pursue in an effort to get something to Gov. Terry Branstad's desk this session.

'We feel that's got a shot of passing around here,” Courtney said.

House Speaker Kraig Paulsen, R-Hiawatha, said legislative Republicans are focused on ways to spur Iowa's economy in a more comprehensive way that will create more opportunities for Iowans to get the training needed to land high-paying careers and businesses have the climate to make investments that lead to job growth.

If the Senate passes a minimum wage increase and sends it to the House, majority House Republicans 'will give it every due consideration but I can say that's where we're focused right now. We're focused on higher paying jobs,” Paulsen saind.

'There is no one that I think believes that you can raise a family on $8.75 an hour or event $10.10,” he added.

Senate GOP Leader Bill Dix of Shell Rock said his 24-member caucus would be willing to debate the merits of a minimum wage increase but he called it 'an old idea” that's been around for a long time when Senate Republicans would prefer to focus on fostering an environment where high-paying careers can be developed.

'I don't think there's anything wrong with having this debate, but if that's where it stops, then we've fallen short,” Dix said. 'What we ought to be focused on is policies that will advance opportunities for Iowans to have much higher paying jobs. That what people really want.”

Jochum said the minimum-wage increase is needed to keep Iowa competitive with neighboring states that now offer higher wage threstholds: Minnesota and Nebraska at $9, South Dakota at $8.50, Illinois at $8.25 and Missouri at $7.85 hourly minimums.

'We hope that this number garners the bipartisan support it needs to move forward,” said Jochum. 'I'm not playing games with this. I believe that this is the right thing to do for Iowa's working families, so if that's what it's going to take to get them a raise, even if it's not as much as we would like, it's better than what they're currently at.”

Jochum said Senate Democrats also planned next week to move ahead with legislation they say would help protect workers from wage theft. Senate File 39 would would require employers to keep records of terms of employment and protect co-workers who testify against employers from retaliation. A similar bill opposed by business groups passed the Iowa Senate last year but was not taken up in the House.

During their weekly news conferences, Republican and Democratic leaders in both chambers criticized the other side for delays in reaching agreement on a fiscal 2016 state aid increase for K-12 schools. The House passed a 1.25 percent increase, while the Senate countered with 4 percent – setting up an impasse that Paulsen said creates at least a three-week delay in resolving the dispute. Jochum countered that 'it's time to stop the happy talk” and provide adequate funding to schools to avoid teacher layoffs and help schools meet the demands of a world-class education.