BOSTON (September 18, 2017): The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) is poised to testify tomorrow before the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development regarding several bills aimed at increasing the minimum wage in the Commonwealth.
“NFIB will highlight the detrimental impact that arbitrarily raising the minimum wage rate would have on Massachusetts’ beleaguered small business community. We can only hope that lawmakers will be receptive to the message that our focus should be on job creation policies to bolster our economy instead,” according to NFIB Massachusetts State Director, Christopher Carlozzi. “There is no doubt that increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour would place Massachusetts at a competitive disadvantage, and we certainly cannot afford to make doing business here anymore onerous than it already is.”
The Committee on Labor and Workforce Development meets tomorrow afternoon to debate the merits of implementing a $15 an hour minimum wage by 2021. NFIB adamantly opposes the legislation and is confident its implementation would harm Massachusetts small business community.
“Minimum wage hikes result in fewer hours for low-wage earners and fewer jobs for the very people legislators claim they are attempting to assist,” continued Carlozzi. “It is irresponsible to even consider another wage increase when small business owners are still reeling from a wage increase that went into effect on the first of this year as well as absorbing the cost of mandatory paid sick leave, a MassHealth assessment, highest-in-the-nation health insurance premiums, and out-of-control energy costs. I intend to make it very clear to the committee tomorrow that these are not the kind of proposals that encourage entrepreneurial growth or business friendliness for Main Street businesses.”
