Texas Small Businesses Would Be Hard-Hit By Federal Minimum Wage Increase

Date: March 18, 2014 Last Edit: September 07, 2016

Texas has more minimum wage employees than any other state

While there are currently no serious efforts at
the state or municipal level to raise the minimum wage in Texas, an increase in
the federal minimum wage would have a major impact on the state, as it has the
most workers making the minimum wage of any state in the nation. President
Obama and his allies in Congress have made passing a minimum wage increase a
key plank in their mid-term election platform and are campaigning heavily on
the idea.

Texas has more
than 400,000 employees working for minimum wage, about 13 percent of all those making
the minimum nationwide, and many thousands more working for less than the
Democrats’ proposed new minimum of $10.10 an hour. Media reports also say that seven of the Dallas area’s 13 counties have at least 6,000 workers
employed for less than $11 an hour, many of whom would be impacted by a federal
increase.

What It Means for Small Businesses in Texas:

An
increase in the federal minimum wage would have a significant downside for
Texas small businesses, more than any other state. The increase would also
disproportionately impact small businesses, as they don’t have the kind of
flexibility enjoyed by their larger brethren to absorb the higher employee
costs. 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.

Further Reading:

Texas
Public Radio

runs a significant piece on the impact of a federal increase on the state, as
does KTVT-TV and the Dallas
Morning News
.
Another Dallas
Morning News

article examines the impact of an increase on state unemployment.

Do you own a business in Dallas? 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 Texas.

Related Content: Small Business News | Minimum Wage | Texas

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