The Utah Governor’s Office is going to release a “study” on raising minimum wage this Thursday. The “study” cost $50,000 and had 12 people on the “study” panel. The “study” resulted in no conclusive recommendations, therefore waiting until Congress raises the federal minimum wage (which hasn’t been done in eight years).
Why is it that it takes a panel and tens of thousands of dollars to decide to raise incomes to liveable (from poverty) standards? Other fiscal issues that do not impact human needs don’t experience the same process. Whenever legislators and other officials have a vote on raising their salaries, there is no panel or special funding involved to conduct a study.
Republicans, according to the article, “suspect” that most minimum wage earners are teens. But an organization that advocates for the homeless and low income has done studies that show less than 20% of minimum wage earners are teens. And so what if they are? Most teenagers I know have jobs because their families need them to help support themselves because of the low family income.
There should be absolutely no question that the ordinary working citizen’s income needs to be raised. End of story.
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