[Vision2020] Candidates share mixed feelings on minimum wage

[g crabtree]

" Idaho follows the federal minimum wage standard of $7.25 per hour, and
some residents feel it needs to be increased, especially in a district that
borders Washington, where workers earn no less than $11.50 an hour."

This makes very little sense. If employers feel that they are losing labor
to a state that pays a higher wage, they can take upon themselves to raise
their wages to compete. I don't see how having  the state compel such a
wage increase helps businesses in any way.

g

On Thu, Oct 4, 2018 at 3:46 AM Moscow Cares <moscowcares at moscow.com> wrote:

> Courtesy of today’s (October 4, 2018) *Moscow-Pullman Daily News*.
>
> ———————————————
>
> Candidates share mixed feelings on minimum wageForeman only legislative
> candidate not willing to endorse Medicaid expansion
>
> Minimum wage and Medicaid expansion were two topics Idaho 5th District
> Legislative candidates addressed during a candidate forum Wednesday at the
> Good Samaritan Society - Moscow Village.
>
> District 5A State Rep. candidates Margaret Gannon, D-St. Maries, and Bill
> Goesling, R-Moscow; 5B State Rep. candidates Caroline Nilsson Troy,
> R-Genesee, and Laurene Sorensen, D-Moscow; and Idaho Senate candidates Dan
> Foreman, R-Viola, and David Nelson, D-Moscow, attended the forum.
>
> Idaho follows the federal minimum wage standard of $7.25 per hour, and
> some residents feel it needs to be increased, especially in a district that
> borders Washington, where workers earn no less than $11.50 an hour.
>
> Goesling said educational opportunities and career technical training are
> critical for students attaining high-paying jobs.
>
> "We have to provide opportunities for children who don't want to go to
> college," Goesling said.
>
> His incumbent opponent, Gannon, said inflation in expenses such as rent,
> grocery prices and electricity are making $7.25 an hour more difficult to
> live on.
>
> "We have to look at making sure that employee, whether they take a STEM
> (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) job or decide to flip
> hamburgers, have enough to live on," Gannon said.
>
> Sorensen said she always supported raising minimum wage, especially in
> border counties such as Latah and Benewah. She said those residents can
> commute to Washington for higher-paying jobs than those provided in Idaho.
>
> "It's causing a brain drain," Sorensen said.
>
> She said Idahoans need to think about how to keep their workforce in the
> Gem State, and focusing their attention on career technical education jobs
> is one way to do that.
>
> "To me, telling a business what they should be paying their employees is
> not free, fair and open market," said Nilsson Troy, the incumbent.
>
> She said she has been trying to expand career technical programs to rural
> schools since she took office and that the state needs to concentrate on
> living wage jobs.
>
> Foreman said the issue of wages should be between the employee and
> employer.
>
> "The issue of wages in the private sector should stay in the private
> sector," Foreman said. "Show me in the Constitution where the government
> has any authority to force employers to pay a set wage to a private
> employee. It's not there, folks ... We want capitalism and free enterprise,
> not socialism."
>
> Nelson said he has no objection to raising the minimum wage and sees no
> constitutional issue in doing so.
>
> "Just because you don't like it, doesn't mean it's not constitutional,"
> Nelson said.
>
> He said Idahoans need to be trained for high-paying jobs to fill the
> thousands of vacant STEM jobs in the state.
>
> All the candidates, except Foreman, said they would support Proposition 2,
> a November ballot measure that, if passed, would allow Idahoans at up to
> 138 percent of the federal poverty level to enroll in the Medicaid program.
> It would provide health care to more than 60,000 Idahoans.
>
> Foreman said the proposition is an unconstitutional delegation of power to
> the federal government.
>
> "It's time for us to empower the individual versus empower the state,"
> Foreman said. "Our current programs are well-intentioned, but they
> perpetuate the need for welfare. Medicaid allows people to continue to make
> poor health choices."
>
> He said a welfare program, which should gradually be reduced in size and
> cost, should be designed to get Idahoans back on their feet financially and
> that voluntary drug testing should be implemented so if a welfare recipient
> refuses to take the test, that person does not receive his or her welfare
> benefits.
>
> Nelson said Proposition 2 is a great thing for Idaho.
>
> He said most people who fall in the Medicaid gap work and, for many of
> them, at minimum wage jobs. Nelson said the cheapest insurance on the state
> health exchange is about $900 a month, so people in the gap cannot afford
> it.
>
> Nilsson Troy said since no progress has been made in recent years to
> resolve the health care issue, she will support whatever decision District
> 5 residents make at the polls.
>
> While she said she has never been a fan of Medicaid expansion, she said it
> is unfair that the gap population is not taken care of.
>
> Sorensen said she supports the ballot measure, noting the emergency room
> is the primary place uninsured residents go - even for primary care. She
> said those uninsured go to work ill and send their children to school sick,
> which infects others and causes a loss of productivity.
>
> "It really will make our whole society healthier to adopt it," Sorensen
> said.
>
> Gannon and Goesling both said they support the proposition.
>
> Gannon said Idahoans seeking preventative care will save themselves and
> taxpayers in the long run.
>
> As a guardian ad litem and veteran, Goesling said he sees the health care
> problems young children are facing without parents to assist them and
> veterans who also fall in the gap, which is why Medicaid expansion is
> needed.
>
> ———————————————
>
> Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .
>
> "Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
> http://www.MoscowCares.com <http://www.moscowcares.com/>
>
> Tom Hansen
> Moscow, Idaho
>
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