Tom Underwood, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said today that Kentucky’s small businesses will continue to oppose efforts to let local governments set their own minimum wage standards:
“Last week’s ruling by the state Supreme Court declaring Louisville’s minimum wage unconstitutional simply sets the stage for what’s sure to be a heated debate in the 2017 General Assembly.
“The court said Kentucky cities can’t set a higher minimum wage unless the legislature gives them the authority. I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I believe there are plenty of state legislators who will try to push it through.
“We have to educate our legislators—and legislative candidates—that raising the minimum wage would hurt the people supporters say they’re trying to help. Businesses aren’t sitting on piles of cash. There’s only so much money in the budget to pay employees. If the government mandates a higher wage, then employers are going to have to raise prices or, what’s more likely, get along with fewer workers.
“If you raise the cost of labor, businesses, especially small businesses, are going to hire the most experienced workers they can. They can’t afford to take a chance on young workers or those without much training or experience. In fact, the National Federation of Independent Business recently released the results of a study saying that raising the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour would result in 1.8 million fewer jobs over the next 10 years and reduce the country’s economic output by $2 trillion. The report didn’t break out statistics for Kentucky, but there’s nothing in the report to suggest we’d be spared from the consequences.
“We lead leaders who will put politics aside and look at the reality of the situation. Raising the minimum wage isn’t going to fix things. It’s only going to make things worse.”
NFIB is the commonwealth’s leading small-business association, representing a cross-section of Kentucky’s economy. To learn more, visit www.NFIB.com/KY and follow @NFIB_KY on Twitter.
