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Capitol View®
Tim Pugmire

Mayors back minimum wage hike

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mayorswage

Several Minnesota mayors have joined the effort to increase the state’s minimum wage to $9.50 an hour, along with future automatic inflationary increases.

The mayors of Falcon Heights, Hibbing, Minneapolis and St. Paul held a state Capitol news conference today to call on lawmakers to take action during the 2014 session. Minnesota's minimum wage is currently set at $6.15, although the federal rate of $7.25 applies in nearly all cases.

The Minnesota House passed a $9.50 measure last year but couldn’t reach a compromise with the state Senate, which passed a $7.75 measure.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said the higher rate is needed because too many adults are stuck in minimum wage jobs.

“This is what people are living on, and they’re not only working one job,” Coleman said. “They’re working two or three jobs, and it’s destroying their families. It’s making it very, very hard for them to survive, and this quaint notion that this is just for kids working at Dairy Queen for a couple of hours a week is just not the case. This is about families putting food on the table.”

The mayors highlighted what they see as the economic benefits of a higher minimum wage.

Hibbing Mayor Rick Cannata said the additional purchasing power would help many small businesses in his city.

“You get a couple dollar increase in your wage, you’re going to go out and spend that, because you’re going to feel good,” Cannata said.

But several business organizations predict a different outcome. Jamie Pfuhl, president of the Minnesota Grocers Association issued a news release warning that the rate favored by the mayors would result in “significant unintended consequences” to the state’s economy.

“The retail food industry operates on profit margins or around 1 percent,” Pfuhl said. “A significant minimum wage increase will increase costs for consumers, result in job loss for youth, and create competitive disadvantages for Minnesota businesses.”