The minimum wage went up in 14 states starting Jan.
The minimum wage went up in 14 states starting Jan. 1, 2016, but Virginia was not on that list – despite legislation, both dramatic and reasonable, submitted during last year’s General Assembly session.
But that hasn’t stopped Senator David Marsden (D-37), who has returned to this year’s GA session with another bill aiming for what he believes is a reasonable increase to the state’s lowest possible earners.
Chris Rock famously on minimum wage:
Marsden’s new bill, SB 88 mirrors last year’s bill in that it bumps up minimum wages to $8 per hour in July 2016, $9 per hour in 2017, and $10 per hour in 2018.
This year’s version also includes a section about tipped employees which would require them to be paid a wage “not be less than 50 percent of the minimum wage” and that “the tip credit shall equal the difference between the cash wage required to be paid to a tipped employee and the minimum wage.”
Last year’s bill , SB 681, was rejected by the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee by a 11-3 vote.
Marsden said republicans have a history of shooting down wage increases like this, saying they’ve argued with him, were defiant, and cited examples of why this isn’t a good idea.
“You know what they did last year? They looked down,” he said. “[They] couldn’t look me in the eye.”
Sadly Marsden is not hopeful for the bill this time around, though he admits submitting the bill, forcing the conversation, is key to getting to a eventual change.
“At some point in time, when things just don’t seem to loosen up for folks at the bottom of the salary scale, eventually there comes a tipping point where people start to agree that this needs to be done,” he said.
Marsden isn’t the only person who has failed in the attempt to raise minimum wage. Last year Delegate Marcus Simon (D-53) made headlines when House Bill 1512 asked for a $15.15 increase by mid-2015 to start and then “adjusted annually to reflect the consumer price index”.
In a press release sent along with the more dramatic $15.15 wage increase, Simon said “higher wages are the best way to stimulate economic growth, allowing people to spend more money and increase consumption that will boost the local, regional, and state economy.”
While Marsden had to deal with the Senate, a House version of the same bill (HB 1654), submitted by Delegate Ken Plum (D 36), faced opposition from state-wide business orgs and The Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce where Plum is a Delegate. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce was concerned that raising minimum wage would increase the “price of labor” and consequently make small business owners raise the prices they charged consumers.
Plum said that minimum wage hasn’t changed in Virginia in ten years.
Simon’s wage increase was admittedly a bit of a stunt, coinciding with the national $15 for 2015 movement which failed to build enough momentum to enact much change, but President Obama signed an executive order raising the minimum wage to $10 for federal service contractors showing this is an issue some of the highest levels of government are aware of.
Despite past failures, Senator Marsden said he continues to be passionate about this specific issue and knows what it’s like to be a minimum wage worker earning a low salary. Although he expects to not receive much support for this bill, he also knows that the only way to find out is to keep asking stating that “the answer’s always ‘no’ until we ask a question and bills are the way we ask a question in the General Assembly.”
