DENVER – A Democratic-controlled House committee last week backed proposals that aim to raise the minimum wage in Colorado.
The hearing by the House State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee started Monday after a rally outside the Capitol in which dozens of workers gathered to support the effort.
“My world would change,” said Lashanda Myrick, who works at a Colorado Walmart. “Maybe I could cover dinner without worrying about rent or getting both of my children the new shoes that they need. This small increase ... would make such a big change in the life of so many of us who are just barely scraping by.”
House Bill 1300 would repeal a 1999 law that gave the state control over minimum-wage issues, allowing local governments to establish minimum wages commensurate with the local cost of living. The measure was backed by the committee on a party-line vote of 6-5.
A separate resolution, which would require a two-thirds vote by the Legislature, would send a ballot question to voters, asking them to gradually raise the minimum wage from $8.23 to $12.50 per hour by 2020. That measure passed the committee by another 6-5 party-line vote.
Business leaders raised concerns about the proposed mandate. They suggested the measures would squeeze certain entry-level workers out of the job market because employers would cut positions to adjust to new labor costs.
The business representatives also worry that a patchwork of local-wage mandates could create uncertainty in the business world.
“Raising the minimum wage disproportionately hurts small businesses and their employees, directly impacting operating costs, increasing obstacles to hiring and encouraging businesses to use less labor, not more,” said Tony Gagliardi, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, which represents small businesses. “This policy is a blunt tool that kills jobs, while failing to achieve the goal of alleviating poverty.”
Opponents will have the support of controlling Republicans in the Senate if the measures make their way to that chamber.
“If they really want to help improve things for working people, legislators should steer clear of a proven job-killer like minimum-wage mandates and instead focus on things that actually might help improve Colorado’s economy, like regulatory reform, creating schools that better prepare kids for the workforce and taking other meaningful actions that will fine-tune the state’s business climate,” Senate President Bill Cadman of Colorado Springs said in a statement.
But sponsors of the legislation, including Democratic Reps. Dominick Moreno of Commerce City and Jovan Melton of Aurora, said the issue is about creating a living wage.
A full-time, minimum-wage worker in Colorado earns only $17,118 a year.
“It’s a universal value that people who work in an area should be able to afford to live there as well,” Moreno said.
Some actually called for a minimum wage of $15. But they conceded that the debate had to start somewhere. Supporters point to recent polling by Myers Research that suggested that Colorado voters are open to an increase by about 64 percent.
“The reality is that even though I work hard every day, I still have to rely on food stamps, and even with them, I can’t make it to the end of the month,” said Andrew Olson, an Aurora McDonald’s worker. “It’s just not right.”