minimum wage Archives - RVA Mag

RVA Mag

Richmond, VA Culture & Politics Since 2005

Menu

Bills Advance That Would Halt Planned Minimum Wage Increases

|

Topics: , , , , , , ,

Two bills introduced by Republicans to halt future minimum wage increases have advanced to the House floor.

Minimum wage in Virginia increased to $11 an hour on Jan. 1 and is set to increase to $12 next January.

The House Commerce and Energy committee approved House Bill 320, introduced by Del. Nicholas J. Freitas, R-Culpeper, and HB 296, introduced by Del. Joseph P. McNamara, R-Roanoke. Both bills would eliminate scheduled future increases to the current minimum wage law. 

McNamara’s bill was amended to include payment for health care benefits as long as the hourly minimum wage is not below $11. Sen. Mark J. Peake, R-Lynchburg, introduced a similar bill in the Senate, which was subsequently shot down by Democrats.

Both House measures advanced out of committee on a 12-9 vote along party lines, with Republicans holding the majority. 

“I know what it is to work for minimum wage,” Freitas said during the subcommittee meeting. “In fact, there’s probably a couple times I was working for a little bit less than it; I was actually happy to have that job.”

Increasing the minimum wage would take away people’s ability to bargain with employers for a wage they are willing to accept, according to Freitas.

Freitas said the state government should not “arbitrarily” increase the minimum wage. He told the panel, when asked, that he does not plan on rolling back the current minimum wage, due to recent inflation. 

The state’s minimum wage was $7.25 prior to May 1, 2021. This is in line with the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which has not changed since 2009.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released two consumer price index reports in late 2021 that included parts of Virginia. One included the Washington metropolitan area. The other report is for the South region, which includes Virginia. 

Consumer price index is a measure of change over time of the prices consumers pay for goods and services. Both reports show the index rising. 

The index increased in a year by almost 5.8% in the Washington metropolitan area, according to the BLS report. The index in the South increased by 7.4% in a year. 

“When inflation has actually moved a job past a particular level, at that point, you’ve negated the own minimum wage raise that you currently have,” Freitas said. “To keep it $11 at this point, achieves the objective I’m having.” 

Freitas said he questions the idea that a higher minimum wage fosters an environment where people and businesses can create the “maximum amount of jobs that you can get that people would actually want.”

A few House Democrats questioned Freitas as he presented the bill. Del. Jeion A. Ward, D-Hampton, said she believes it would be wrong to end the minimum wage increases. Ward also said she wants the public to have a chance to voice their opinion on the matter. 

“When you talk about kitchen table issues, this is what people are talking about at their table,” Ward said. “It’s those small families, those families that work minimum wage, and I don’t think they’re saying, ‘this is too much.’” 

The state’s current minimum wage law has a reenactment clause. Next January, the minimum wage automatically bumps up to $12 an hour. However, the General Assembly must pass the measure again prior to July 1, 2024 for the pay increase to $13.50 and then to $15 to remain in effect. Lawmakers could make changes to the bill during the process. The commissioner of Labor and Industry would establish the adjusted state hourly minimum wage if lawmakers fail to pass the bill again.

Kim Bobo, executive director for the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, spoke against the bill at the subcommittee meeting. One of the main focuses of the center is eliminating poverty, Bobo said.

“The largest number of people and families in poverty have family members who are working, and they frankly just don’t earn enough to get themselves out of poverty,” Bobo said in an interview. “The best way really to tackle that is to raise the minimum wage.”

The Republican Party branded itself as pro-business during the gubernatorial election, Bobo said. However, she believes there’s a “disconnect” between the party and working class families. 

“I would think that the Republican Party and the new governor ought to look at these ‘bread and butter’ issues like minimum wage, like paid sick days,” Bobo said.

One percent of hourly workers over the age of 25 earned minimum wage in 2020, according to the latest available data from the BLS. Women were more likely to earn minimum wage than men in 2020. 

“I thought Freitas’ main argument that ‘oh, this is really going to help teenage workers and people get into the workforce’ was really very deceptive in terms of who’s really on minimum wage,” Bobo said.

About 50% of hourly workers earning minimum wage in 2020 were under the age of 25, according to the BLS. Southern states had the highest percentages of people working minimum wage. About 3% of Virginia’s hourly workers earn minimum wage or less.

“A lot of young people are in college,” Bobo said. “If the minimum wage is $15 versus $7.25, there’s a huge difference in terms of their ability to make their ends meet.”

The House gave both bills a first reading on Jan. 27. If either bill passed in the House, Bobo said she is convinced the measure would die in the majority Democratic Senate.

“I’m not going through the full court effort on it,” Bobo said.

Written by Katharine DeRosa, Capital News Service. Top Photo by George Copeland Jr.

From Red Lines To Brown Circles, Again

|

Topics: , , , , , , , , ,

“Cash rules everything around me

C.R.E.A.M., get the money

Dollar dollar bill, y’all”

-Wu Tang Clan

The hook to the popular song “C.R.E.A.M” by hip-hop group Wu-Tang has been widely referenced in American culture and music since its release in 1994. You don’t have to be a Wu-Tang Clan fan to identify how these lyrics may illuminate some of our nation’s greatest values — money and capitalism. In fact, racism as we know it was actually constructed and fueled by capitalism. Author of How to be an Anti-Racist Ibram X. Kendi calls racism and capitalism conjoined twins. This dynamic duo has fueled some of the most treacherous institutions for Black and Brown communities in our country: the gruesome 200-year American enslavement of Africans, the 13th amendment, the prison industrial complex, human trafficking syndicates (both sexual and labor) and now the invisible, yet intentional racialized disparities we see today. We can see the cumulative impacts on these ties by looking at income and wealth by race.

According to 2019 census data, Blacks earned a median income of 61 cents for every dollar compared to whites, and Hispanics earned 74 cents. Beyond income (cash flow), net worth (assets minus debt) gives an even clearer indication of wealth, and whether considering the median or mean family wealth, Black and Brown households have less than 20% of the wealth white households have according to the Federal Reserve Bank’s 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances.

The tethered relationship of capitalism and racism requires that the dialogue about a more racially equitable Richmond include an honest conversation about money and wealth. We address this by invoking the legacy of Richmond’s own Maggie L. Walker to rebuild access to our own financial institutions with inclusive practices aimed at closing racial disparities and promoting communal gain over capitalism.

“Cash is king, but credit is power.” ~ Marriet Allen

Shekinah Mitchell

When it comes to cash, recent legislation to ultimately raise Virginia’s minimum wage to $15 an hour and Richmond’s Office of Community Wealth Building’s campaign to define what a living wage is for our community and reward organizations meeting those benchmarks are examples of work happening to get more cash in the hands of Richmonders. Other programs like the Giving Wall support low-income families in meeting one-time immediate cash needs. The pandemic brought an influx of family cash payments and small business grants, which helped meet short term cash needs for families and entrepreneurs. While there is still much work to be done, the faithful advocacy for workforce reform and a renewed focus on small business investment are pushing us in a more hopeful direction.

However, in today’s society, whether building wealth through homeownership (mortgage) or through entrepreneurship (startup loan, line of credit, business credit card etc.), engaging with financial institutions to borrow money has become a prerequisite for building wealth.

With this in mind, if I were to remix Wu-Tang’s classic, the title would be “C3.R.E.A.M.” because cash, credit and capital are ruling American life. This interdependent trio of cash, credit and capital are the formula to determine wealth in this nation, and all three are tied to financial institutions and economic systems of racialized oppression.

The red lines that got us here

In most cases, the traditional paths to building wealth in our nation require engaging with banks and other financial institutions for mortgages and business loans, but these institutions are still grappling with the consequences of redlining.

These red lines changed the social and economic trajectory of Richmond and communities across the country, deeply restricting access to mortgages, business loans and other capital. As shown in this map, Richmond’s East End, Northside, Jackson Ward and parts of Southside within closest proximity to downtown were all redlined.

These lines were used to divide, separate, and reinforce racial hierarchies, and consequently affirm a white supremacist culture of self-interest over communal impact.

Although policy has changed, for many communities in Richmond, these red lines have not been erased. Through programs like credit counseling and repair and down payment assistance, we have spent our efforts building on-ramps for people of color to be considered worthy by banks. Community development financial institutions and credit unions offer special loan funds and try to leverage government programs like opportunity zones and tax credits to incentivize investment and development projects in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. In many cases these products and programs are paired with capital from traditional banks in order to close gaps and make the development projects profitable and viable. These efforts have made a difference for some families in our community; however, this falls short of justice.

Our goals must grow beyond increasing bankability into financial systems built on capitalism corrupted by racism, and instead stretch to create inclusive, communal pathways to economic liberation.

Lines are being re-drawn today through gentrification. If you want to buy a house, you need to qualify for a mortgage, and you will pay back on average 171% of what you borrowed and that is after having the cash for a down payment and closing costs and a qualifying credit score, which are also racially discriminatory. Lines are drawn in entrepreneurship because, “According to findings from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Black entrepreneurs are nearly three times more likely than White entrepreneurs to have business growth and profitability negatively impacted by a lack of financial capital.”

Back to Brown Circles: What Would Maggie Do?

“The pennies, dimes and dollars of one individual may be few indeed, but the combined dimes and dollars of a thousand individuals changed the weak word few into the powerful word many.” ~ Maggie L. Walker

When others were drawing red lines, Maggie was building brown circles.

Her strength and power were rooted in her ability to see collective opportunity over individual gain. She knew that even though individual Black households had very little income, the power of pooling those resources together could create a mighty force. Part of Maggie’s legacy is being the first woman to own a bank, and because of that incredible accomplishment during the Jim Crow era, the St. Luke’s Penny Savings Bank offered mortgages, savings accounts, small business loans and other products that contributed to Jackson Ward becoming the Black Wall Street and the Harlem of the South. Maggie did banking differently, and here are some examples of how she prioritized the needs of her community over business as usual:

● St. Luke’s Penny Savings Bank made loans as low as $5, which was roughly one week’s worth of wages and is equivalent to roughly $150 today.

● Her bank’s hours went into the evening 6 days a week to be accessible to her constituents who worked during the day.

● Maggie had community-based credit committees that relied on references (not solely on income, algorithms or credit score).

● While traditional banks required 40% down during those times, St. Luke’s Penny Savings Bank accepted 10% down, which would be equivalent to 5% down in today’s market.

● Her bank used a collective decision-making model where all stockholders (even those with a fraction of a share) had voting rights and input on operations.

● Maggie engaged youth as ambassadors and employees, going door to door to build trust in St. Luke’s Penny Savings Bank. Freedman’s Savings & Trust was funded by congress to serve Blacks in 1865, but was out of business because of corrupt white managers by 1874. Black depositors only got on average 60% of what they deposited, and many lost all their money. Maggie was battling uphill against well-deserved distrust.

Maggie’s strategies to do banking differently led to providing financing through St. Luke’s Penny Savings Bank for 40% of Black-owned homes in Richmond. By the 1920’s, 650 of these mortgages were completely paid off. These practices and subsequent outcomes are outstanding, and over one hundred years later, Richmond still craves the revival of this legacy, while most of our historically Black communities are grappling with poverty and gentrification.

If she was able to accomplish so much in the early 1900’s, can you imagine what would be possible if we did that today?

So often, we forget that the story of African Americans does not start on our knees in shackles on Native American land, but it begins in Africa full of rich traditions, culture and a village mentality. Linear thinking, individualism, either/or thinking, and zero sum gain are all traits of white supremacy culture. Communities of color traditionally aren’t linear but communally minded, and we need to combine the opportunities for wealth building with a collective mindset to begin breaking repetitive cycles of injustice.

What would brown circles look like?

Brown circles are strategies to close racialized economic disparities by prioritizing inclusive, communal benefit over maximizing individual profit.

Here are some examples of brown circle strategies:

Black and Brown folks pool resources into a neighborhood/community LLC to:

  • Collectively purchase properties and land in gentrifying communities to develop housing ourselves and preserve affordable access to communities.
  • Assist home-owners who are behind on taxes or without the capital to update their homes to “age in place” by providing low-interest capital and an alternative to losing their homes because they are tax delinquent or from predatory offers far below what their homes are worth.

Long-term action: Start a Richmond-based, Black-owned credit union or bank:

  • Offer low-interest mortgages, HELOCs, lines-of-credit, credit cards, micro-lending, low-interest small business loans and other financial products based on community need that look beyond racialized algorithms and credit scores to determine credit-worthiness.

Funding sources:

  • Account holders – share the vision with friends, family-members, neighbors, businesses, foundations, nonprofits etc. to begin building a base of capital. The same money circulating in our community now could be re-routed and activated for communal economic liberation.
  • Foundations and philanthropists who have principal balances of millions of dollars that generate grants and gifts based on interest gains could activate a portion of those principal balances to serve as lending capital to achieve their philanthropic goals.
  • Corporations and banks eager to gain Community Reinvestment Act credits could partner and invest in this venture.

Some may question if starting a Black bank is the right strategy, but I would challenge us all to dig deeply into the troubling history of banking in the United States by reading Mehrsa Baradaran’s The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap. She comprehensively and methodically illuminates the undeniable injustices within the banking industry and why Black communities in particular continue to be excluded from access to capital. She calls out federal interventions like the Community Development Financial Institutions fund, the Clinton administration’s empowerment zones, Nixon’s façade efforts to foster Black capitalism, and a history of strategies that fail to open access to capital for the Black community. While advocating for more equitable financial intervention through federal strategies is important, there needs to be a parallel path that activates communal power for our own economic liberation. It is also important to consider that Black-owned banks in the United States are in crisis. Between 2001-2018, the number of Black-owned banks declined by over 50% and this trend has continued.

Now is the time for radical, community-based intervention, and shifting to a brown circles mindset that pushes Richmond to be a more racially equitable place benefiting everyone struggling to find the on-ramp to traditional pathways of wealth building.

Don’t settle for holding the red marker

Conversations in our community have continued to shift to focus on diversity, inclusion and equity; and from an upsurge in equity-related roles within nonprofits and businesses to task forces, committees and strategic plans, there are measurable actions being taken to advance racial equity. In many cases, championing for racial diversity in leadership roles, staffing, board members etc. is an incredibly important step along the journey to equity that cannot be ignored.

However, when considering the role of financial institutions, a more racially equitable Richmond wouldn’t be Black and Brown people adopting the same practices of white supremacy.

The practice of drawing red lines around communities in the 1930’s operationalized race-based exclusion.  At its core, redlining created on-ramps to financial opportunity for some, while drawing a clear red boundary around others. If we overlay racial diversity onto similar strategies rooted in individualistic capitalism, we will end up with racially diverse decision-makers drawing new red lines that still determine who is in and who is out. Maybe those excluded would be families earning low-moderate incomes, those who are physically disabled, immigrant communities or others still fighting for equitable access to opportunity. While it is an undeniably important step, systems of oppression aren’t dismantled by simply diversifying those in power, because decades of assimilation have infected nearly every American, regardless of their race, with the lie of white supremacy.

In other words, let’s not settle for defining racial equity as having red markers in the hands of Black and Brown people, but let us build our own pathways and create a new, more equitable culture around financial empowerment. 

Maggie said it best: “Let us awake. Let us arise. We have the men, we have the women, we have the brains. Let us form a partnership of heads and brains and actually do something. Let us have a bank that will take the nickels and turn them into dollars!” – Maggie L. Walker

Shekinah Mitchell is a native Richmonder who has worked within the nonprofit sector for over 12 years. She currently serves as the Community Liaison for Systems Equity at the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation where she focuses on the remediation of systemic barriers and equitable engagement of families.  She holds a bachelor’s in Business Management from Radford University and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University where her research focused on community engagement and cultural placemaking to advance racial equity. She has a wide range of experience covering youth development and affordable housing to systems building and quality improvement. In addition to her personal experience with banking and financial institutions, her professional experience supporting wealth building, financial opportunity, minority home-ownership and small business development in Richmond’s East End and Northside inspired this essay.

This essay is part of the Richmond Racial Equity Essays series, exploring what racial equity looks like in Richmond, Virginia. It is reprinted here with permission. Check out the full project, the accompanying videos, and the podcast.

Legislature Delays Minimum Wage Increase Amid Budget Concerns

|

Topics: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The delay will push the first statewide minimum wage increase back by four months, to May 2021; some lawmakers view this delay as the lesser of two evils.

Labor advocates and Virginia legislators worried the recently passed bill to increase minimum wage might die during the reconvened General Assembly session Wednesday.

Gov. Ralph Northam’s amendment deferred the start date of the original bill by four months in response to the economic blow dealt to the state from the coronavirus pandemic. The recommendation was one of many made to trim the $135 billion, two-year budget passed in the spring. Republican lawmakers wanted to reject the amendment in order to stall the passage of the bill and have the governor amend it further.

During the relocated Senate floor session held at the Science Museum of Virginia, Sen. Mark Obenshain, R-Rockingham, argued that now is a risky time to consider raising the minimum wage given the COVID-19 crisis. He said the legislature should reject the governor’s recommendation and send the bill back for reconsideration.

“Voting ‘no’ on this amendment keeps this issue alive,” Obenshain said. “It sends it back to the governor, and the governor has one more chance to do what’s right, not just for businesses, but for workers.”

Lawmakers who oppose minimum wage increases argued that those working minimum wage jobs in Virginia are young people entering the workforce, not people trying to support families. Other legislators pointed to the essential workers now serving the public from the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak, many of whom make minimum wage. 

“Quite frankly I find it hard to believe we’ve got people in here who don’t think somebody working full time in any job should earn at least $19,600 a year,” said Senate majority leader Richard Saslaw, D-Fairfax. “There’s no one in here … that would work for that kind of wage. No one.”

There were impassioned pleas from several House members to accept the recommendation instead of risking the bill being vetoed, though one delegate voiced resentment at having to make the choice. Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, said the COVID-19 crisis has spotlit “one of the most glaring contradictions in our economy” — that workers paid the least are often deemed most essential to society.

“We are saying to these people ‘you are not worth a pay raise come January,’” Carter said. “I’m not gonna fault anyone that votes ‘yes’ on this, for taking the sure thing four months later rather than taking the chance, but if that’s what we’re gonna do … I can’t be any part of it.” Carter did not cast a vote on the amendment.

Del. Elizabeth Guzman. Photo via Facebook

Del. Elizabeth Guzman, D-Prince William, said that some legislators’ notion that families don’t depend on minimum wage is a myth.

“I’m glad they acknowledge that there are people in Virginia who cannot live off minimum wage,” Guzman said. “Actually, what they do is they get a second job, or a third job in order to make ends meet.” Guzman immigrated to the U.S. from Peru at the age of 18 and worked three jobs to afford a one bedroom apartment.

The House of Delegates voted 49-45 to accept Northam’s amendment to their bill. Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax made the tie-breaking Senate vote when its version ended in a 20-20 tie.

The identical bills, introduced by Sen. Saslaw and Del. Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, originally would have raised the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.50 per hour on Jan. 1, 2021. The governor’s amendment pushes the start to May 1, 2021.

The wage will then increase to $11 in 2022, $12 in 2023 and by another $1.50 in 2025 and 2026. Every subsequent year the bill is to be re-amended to adjust the minimum wage to reflect the consumer price index.

Virginia’s cost of living index is very close to the national average, but it ranks in the top four among states where the minimum wage equals the federal rate of $7.25, according to an analysis of data from the Missouri Economic Research and Development Center.

Anna Scholl, executive director of Progress Virginia, said now is not the time for Virginia to turn its back on low wage workers.

“We have been fighting for a decade to push for people who are working hard to make ends meet, to support their families and to be able to do so with dignity,” Scholl said. “That’s what raising the minimum wage is about.”

Written by Will Gonzalez, Capital News Service. Top Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

State Legislature Tackles Budget Amendments Amid Coronavirus Fallout

|

Topics: , , , , , , , , , , ,

The General Assembly held sessions outside last week, considering questions of minimum wage and election dates on the Capitol lawn as quarantine protesters raised a ruckus.

The General Assembly’s reconvened session Wednesday was abnormal as the House dealt with technical difficulties, disruptive protests, and House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, collapsing at the podium. 

Filler-Corn was standing for over three hours before she fell, just as the House was going into a break. Emergency medical services immediately attended to her and she resumed her post after an hour break.

“She looked like she was ready for a break, and then I looked down and suddenly, I just heard a collapse,” said Del. Mark Levine, D-Alexandria. “By the time I looked up she was down.”

Lawmakers considered holding this session remotely. Levine said Republican delegates were concerned there would be technical difficulties, so legislators opted to meet in person but not in their respective chambers.

“I think it was that they wanted to make it as difficult as possible because the Democrats are in control,” Levine said. “But they’re not going to stop us from going forward. If we have to risk our lives, we will risk our lives, but we shouldn’t have to.”

Delegates sat at tables six feet apart in accordance with proper social distancing.

Delegates congregated under a tent on the lawn of the Virginia State Capitol. The session was punctuated several times by technical difficulties, even delaying the start. The Senate met a few miles away inside the Science Museum of Virginia. 

Legislator sat at tables set up roughly six feet apart to prevent the possible spread of the coronavirus. Many delegates wore face masks, but often removed them when speaking. Some delegates elected to wear gloves, though that was not the majority. Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax, wore a mask and sat inside a plexiglass structure that lawmakers jokingly called “the cage.” Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax kept his face mask on while at the podium, though Filler-Corn opted not to.

Virginians for Constitutional Rights 2020, formerly Reopen Virginia, gathered outside of the Capitol to protest Gov. Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order. Northam’s order was recently extended to June 10. Protesters cited the tanking economy as the reason the state should reopen. The protesters, most in vehicles, honked their horns for nearly three hours as they drove a circuitous route around the Capitol. At times legislators strained to be heard amid the cacophony of horns.

The protest and technical difficulties did not impede the session from conducting business. Of the 100 delegates, 95 were in attendance. All 40 senators attended the Senate session. Some delegates elected not to attend due to COVID-19 related concerns, Levine said.

The House, with 97 items on the agenda, started by accepting Northam’s only vetoed bill: HB 119, a measure to define milk. The bill would only allow products that are “lacteal secretions” from a “hooved mammal” to be labeled as milk, excluding products such as almond, oat and soy “milks.” 

“Not only are [dairy farmers] not making enough money on their milk, they are now dumping it down the drain,” said Del. Barry Knight, R-Virginia Beach, the bill’s sponsor. “My bill was to send a signal that we sympathize with you and want to offer our support.”

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax kept his mask on while speaking at the podium.

Lawmakers grappled at length with issues related to the budget, which must be amended in response to the economic blow of COVID-19. Northam suggested 181 total amendments to the budget bills. The governor called for a freeze on many budget items and said that new circumstances required lawmakers to revisit initiatives such as early childhood education, more affordable college tuition, and pay increases for public employees and teachers. Northam said in his amendments that he may ask lawmakers to reconvene at a later point to vote on these items after they have reforecast state revenues. 

Northam’s recommendations included $55.5 million for “sufficient disaster declaration authorization” and $2.5 million for “deficit authorization for housing.” The House accepted these amendments. 

Lawmakers rejected Northam’s budget amendment to delay existing capital projects “in order to address cash flow and debt capacity concerns resulting from the COVID-19 emergency.”

Northam’s proposal to push the May 5 municipal elections to November was contested. Initially, the House voted along a slim majority not to adopt the amendment. After debate, confusion and technicalities, the amendment passed with two votes. The Senate, which accepted most budget recommendations, did not vote on moving May elections. Levine, who voted to accept the amendment, said this means elections will be held in May, despite public health concerns. He suggested that since the Senate did not vote to move the elections, the senators should man the polls.

Other budget recommendations approved by the House and Senate:

  • Increase nursing facility rates by $20 a day per patient in response to COVID-19.
  • Provide authority for the Director of the Department of Corrections to discharge or reassign certain inmates until July 2021.
  • Expand access to long acting reversible contraceptives.
  • Authorize the governor to appropriate Congressional funding related to COVID-19.

Many of the other legislative amendments were technical and made minor changes to some pivotal legislation passed in the historic session. The session marked the first time since 1994 where Democrats controlled both chambers of the General Assembly and the governor’s office. Two of Northam’s recommendations to the marijuana decriminalization bill, HB 972, were rejected, regarding an extension for the study on the legalization of marijuana and not allowing a trial by jury for the civil penalty of simple possession.

House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn takes a seat after collapsing at the podium.

The governor’s recommendation to delay the $9.50 minimum wage increase from January until May 2021 was accepted after several impassioned pleas. Other lawmakers voiced concern that the economy can not handle increasing the minimum wage. In the Senate, Fairfax cast a tie-breaking vote to accept the bill’s delay.

A major concern during the reconvened session was that all in attendance take precautions amidst the pandemic. 

“This is definitely unique,” Filler-Corn told the Washington Post. “Health and safety are a top priority.”

Levine wished that the session had been held remotely for safety reasons, but understands that it was necessary to meet, even if in person. 

“Any of us could have [the coronavirus] and the longer we all stay in this environment around each other, the more likely it is that it will be transmitted,” Levine said. 

Each session began at noon and after over eight hours of discussion, voting and interruptions, the House erupted in applause when they came to end. The Senate adjourned shortly after 10 p.m.

“Am I willing to risk my life to continue to serve this commonwealth?” Levine said. “Yes. I got elected for it, I’m going to take that risk, but we shouldn’t have to.”

Written by Emma Gauthier, Capital News Service. Top Photo: The House’s tent set up outside the Capitol; courtesy of Virginia Capitol Police.

Workers Urge Northam To Sign Minimum Wage Bill

|

Topics: , , , , , , , ,

Workers and advocates are urging Gov. Ralph Northam to sign a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $9.50 at the start of next year. The General Assembly will reconvene on April 22, and lawmakers will reevaluate recently passed legislation as the state’s economy takes a blow and unemployment climbs during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Northam and state leaders anticipate the state’s economy will suffer a major hit from the coronavirus outbreak. Northam didn’t respond directly whether he is considering delaying the increase in minimum wage when asked at a recent press conference. 

“There are a number of pieces of legislation that we are looking at regarding our business environment, and I haven’t made any definite decisions, but we are talking to the patrons of those pieces of legislation,” Northam said. The governor said he will “make a decision in the best interest of Virginia and the best interest of our economy.”

Workers on the front lines of essential businesses continue to serve the public during the COVID-19 outbreak, including many workers who earn minimum wage — currently $7.25 in Virginia. 

Employees at a Virginia Kroger grocery store and an Amazon distribution center recently tested positive for the coronavirus. Many essential workers have asked for an increase in pay to reflect the increased need for their services and the elevated risks they take while working. 

Anna Scholl, executive director of Progress Virginia, an advocacy organization, said that raising the minimum wage is necessary to allow these workers to raise their families with dignity. 

“That’s especially true now when grocery store workers, delivery drivers, home health aids, and so many more are going to work for low wages and putting themselves at risk of getting sick so that we can stay home and healthy,” Scholl said in a press release. 

The group is asking Northam to sign House Bill 395 into law without amendments or delays that would water down the bill. HB 395 would raise the minimum wage to $9.50 in 2021, $11 in 2022 and $12 in 2023. The minimum wage could go up to $15 by 2026, if approved by the General Assembly. 

Some essential workers also argue that they are not being provided adequate protective gear and supplies to keep them safe from the coronavirus, another reason they are pushing for guaranteed wage increase.

Lisa Harris works at Kroger in Mechanicsville and is a member of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. She has been with Kroger for 13 years and said in a press conference organized by Progress Virginia that she would benefit directly from HB 395. She is urging Northam to sign the bill with no weakening amendments. 

“I find it fascinating how fast grocery store workers like me have gone from being considered unskilled labor to being recognized as essential personnel,” Harris said. 

She compared workers dealing directly with an increasingly infected public to being on the front lines like first responders, and said, “It would be nice to be paid accordingly.” 

Harris said Kroger is not observing the proper social distancing recommendation of six feet or providing workers with personal protective equipment. She said the staff is required to wipe down the self checkout scanners and screens every half hour but argues that this is impossible with the influx of customers visiting the store. Harris said the staff is given Windex to clean equipment and not a proper disinfectant. The company has given full-time workers a $300 bonus and part-time workers a $150 pay boost, but that’s not enough money, Harris said. 

“It means barely being able to support myself, it means making tough decisions about whether to pay a bill or skip a meal, it means calling on my family members to help me as I’m attempting to be a fully enfranchised 31-year old,” Harris said. 

Photo by Franki Chamaki on Unsplash

Allison McGee, corporate affairs manager for Kroger, said the grocery chain provided all hourly workers with a $2 pay increase for hours worked March 29 through April 18. McGee also stated that all Kroger stores in the Richmond area have been provided with Environmental Protection Agency-registered disinfectants to wipe down counters and cash registers. She said employees are required to wipe down surfaces frequently, and extra hand sanitizer bottles have been provided at each checkout station.

“As far as PPE, we are encouraging our associates to wear protective masks and gloves, and we’re working hard to secure these resources for our associates,” McGee stated in an email. “Supply has started to arrive for our associates, and we anticipate all locations having personal protective equipment within the next several weeks.”

Kroger said on its website that they want healthcare workers to get ahold of protective gear before they can properly distribute it to their workers. For now employees have limited access to such PPE and are encouraged to use their own.

Beginning April 7, Kroger will also start to limit the number of customers to 50 percent of the building code’s calculated capacity to allow for proper physical distancing in stores, the company announced this week.

Michael Cassidy, executive director of The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis, said the coronavirus is a reminder that many essential workers are also minimum wage workers. 

“These individuals are providing a vital service to us right now and they deserve more than $7.25 an hour,” Cassidy said.

Cassidy said if the minimum wage increase were to go into effect in January, it would help 46,000 healthcare workers, 100,00 retail workers and over 100,000 restaurant and service industry workers. He said this would allow people to buy more and contribute to businesses and the economy as a whole. 

“That’s important. because consumer spending is the foundation of our economy. It’s about 72 percent of Virginia’s gross domestic product,” Cassidy said. 

Del. Danica Roem said in a tweet that she is extremely disappointed to see groups advocating for bills like HB 395 to be watered down or delayed. 

“We’re $1.50/hr behind West Virginia right now,” Roem tweeted. “You don’t see an uprising of West Virginian business leaders demanding the government lower their minimum wage to match ours.” 

Cassidy said history shows that increasing the minimum wage during a recession has been successful in bringing the economy back.

HB 395 is currently pending signature by Northam, with a deadline of April 11.

Written by Ada Romano, Capital News Service. Top Photo by WALK_ on Unsplash.

Democratic Lawmakers Reflect on Historic General Assembly Session

|

Topics: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In the first session in over two decades with the governor’s office and both houses under Democratic control, the General Assembly passed extensive legislation affecting everything from LGBTQ rights to gun control and marijuana decriminalization.

Virginia lawmakers passed over 1,200 new laws in two months, a variety of them in the final days of the 2020 session, which expanded into Sunday evening to accommodate the backlog of legislation.

This session has been the first time since 1994 that the Democrats have controlled both chambers of the General Assembly along with the governor’s office. The House passed 746 of 1,732 bills introduced, while the Senate passed 543 of 1,096 bills introduced, excluding resolutions, according to the Legislative Information System. The number of bills sponsored in the House led to long sessions in both chambers and left the Senate grappling with an approaching deadline. 

In eight weeks, starting with a vote to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, Democrats worked to overturn close to 30 years of Republican dominance over issues such as gun control, reproductive rights, and voter rights.

They also passed new measures such as empowering localities with the authority to remove or contextualize war memorials and adding LGBTQ protections from discrimination in housing and employment, as well as a ban on conversion therapy for minors, becoming the first Southern state to pass such legisation. 

Seven out of eight major gun control measures supported by Gov. Ralph Northam are on the way to the governor’s desk for his signature. The legislation includes bills that limit handgun purchases to one per month, a background check on all firearms sales, and extreme risk protection orders, also known as the red flag law. 

House of Delegates begins on Sunday March 8, 2020 after lawmakers agreed to an extension of the session the night before. (Photo by Chip Lauterbach/Capital News Service)

Other legislation that passed in the homestretch included decriminalization of marijuana, but efforts to legalize marijuana were squashed, to the dismay of advocates. The decriminalization bill does away with the criminal penalty for simple marijuana possession, instead instating a $25 civil penalty for a person caught with not more than 1 ounce of marijuana. The Senate amended the bill from the original amount of not more than a half ounce.

“For far too long our approach to cannabis has needlessly saddled Virginians, especially African Americans and people of color, with criminal records,” Attorney General Mark Herring said in a statement. “Those days are over.” 

Herring, who pushed for the legislation, said there were 29,000 marijuana possession arrests in 2018. He also said decriminalization is an important first step toward legal, regulated adult use. 

Lawmakers reached a compromise to increase the minimum wage, with a bill that gradually increases the wage to $9.50 in 2021, $11 in 2022 and up to $12 in 2023. Following these raises, the measure is to be brought before the General Assembly for a future vote that must pass by 2024 in order to guarantee that the wage can reach $15 by 2026.

Democrats also pushed through an amended bill that allows access to collective bargaining for public employees — such as teachers and firefighters — in localities where local governments choose to participate. Sens. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, and Amanda Chase, R-Chesterfield, criticized these policies, which they said create hurdles for enterprises. 

“We’ve just crushed the small business atmosphere,” DeSteph said in a video posted on Facebook. “CNBC had us as the No. 1 place to do business. We’re going to be in the 20s after this. It’s a very sad day for the commonwealth.” 

Freshman Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, who defeated one-term incumbent Glen Sturtevant in November, reflected back on her first session.

“It’s been incredible, I have immersed myself in all the issues and critical pieces of legislation that we have had,” Hashmi said. “We have been able to pass some very important bills this year, for immigrant rights and for education, focusing on teachers and higher education, I’ve really enjoyed the work and am looking forward to coming back next year.”

In the House, Democrats held 55 seats to the Republican’s 45 seats. Democrats ushered changes that Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, felt will be instrumental in improving the lives of Virginians.

“With the partisan change in both chambers, the question coming down here was: ‘What kind of majority are we going to be?’” Carter said. “Whether we were going to be the type of majority that stood unequivocally for working people, against corporate interests, and decided to make lives better for the people that desperately needed it, or if we were going to be a majority that was content to merely not be as bad as the Republicans.”

Carter said that he was happiest with the outcome of his bill that capped the price of insulin at $50 for a month’s worth.

“I introduced the bill with the cap at $30, the Senate put it at $50,” Carter said. “I’m hoping that the governor will put it back down to $30 or even lower, so we can get some relief to those people who have health insurance but their deductibles and copays are too high for them to be able to afford their insulin products.”

Senators entering chambers waiting for Saturday’s session to begin. (Photo by Chip Lauterbach/Capital News Service)

Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, looked back on her third session in the General Assembly with pride, joking that she was able to pass 13 bills for the 13th District. Roem was pleased that her bill, HB 1024, which would establish a statewide cold case database, passed the Senate on the final day of this year’s session.

“This will allow reporters, as well the public in general, to look up every missing persons case, unidentified persons case, and every unsolved homicide in the state that is at least five years old,” Roem said. “This is a huge win for government accountability and transparency.”

Some legislation that moved through the House met resistance in the Democrat-majority Senate, where moderate Democrats sided with Republicans. Three moderate Democrats tipped a Senate panel vote to continue HB 961, the assault weapons ban sponsored by Del. Mark Levine (D-Alexandria), until the next session. 

On Saturday, citing concerns of minority profiling, Senate Democrats helped vote down HB 1439, which would have made not wearing a seatbelt in any seat of a vehicle a primary offense. 

Some Republicans also advanced legislative reform. Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin, passed a measure that will remove suspension of a driver’s license for nonpayment of fines. Stanley also supported a bill granting tenants the power to make repairs on their property and deduct the costs from their rent, with conditions.

Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn issued a statement saying that Democrats were celebrating a “historic, legislative session.”

“This General Assembly session has been historic in the extraordinary progress the House of Delegates has made for Virginians in every corner of the Commonwealth,” Filler-Corn said. “In November, voters called for swift, impactful action to make their communities safer and more prosperous. We have delivered on that mandate.” 

Multiple House and Senate Republicans did not respond to a request for comment. 

Written by Chip Lauterbach, Capital News Service. Top Photo by Chip Lauterbach, Capital News Service.