Federal government could raise wage, despite little support in state legislature
Efforts to hike Georgia’s minimum wage never
really got off the ground in the state legislature this year, though a bill to
increase it was introduced. Republicans in the state legislature, many of them
small business owners, were adamant in their opposition. However, there is a
serious push at the national level to increase the minimum wage. President
Obama, for example, has called for raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour,
and legislation to that effect has been introduced in the Senate. While a
federal wage increase appears unlikely this election year, the Democrats are
making it a key plank in the mid-term election platform.
What It Means for Georgia’s Small Businesses:
Whether an increase comes from the federal or state government, a minimum
wage increase would have a significant downside for Georgia’s small businesses. NFIB opposes an increase in the federal
minimum wage, arguing that raising it to $10.10 would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs, a
view backed up by the Congressional Budget Office, which estimates that it
would cost the nation 500,000 jobs.
Kyle Jackson,
NFIB’s Georgia director, stressed that the state’s small businesses would bear
the brunt of the minimum wage increase burden, saying, “The minimum wage
increase always disproportionately impacts small businesses versus large
businesses, because it’s more likely that a small employer is going to pay somebody
around the minimum wage.”
Meanwhile,
Express Employment Professionals, a staffing firm, surveyed business owners
nationwide, and among those that pay the current minimum wage, 38 percent said they
would have to lay off some workers to cover the costs of an increase to $10.10
an hour, while 54 percent said they would reduce hiring and 65 percent would raise prices.
Further Reading:
The Athens Banner-Herald
covered the state legislature’s consideration of a minimum wage increase. The Augusta Chronicle
ran a report detailing how small businesses would suffer from a wage increase.
The Augusta Chronicle
also published an editorial opposing a federal minimum wage increase. The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
reports on the Express Employment Professionals survey, as did WAGA-TV.
Do you own a business in Atlanta? Become an NFIB member today and join
350,000 other entrepreneurs who are saving time and money through their
membership.
Learn more about NFIB in Georgia.
