Idaho rate tied to the federal government’s. NFIB urges ‘No’ vote on H.R. 582
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Suzanne Budge, Idaho State Director, 208-850-3065 [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, 415-640-5156, [email protected]
BOISE, Idaho, July 17, 2019—Just when the hottest economy in half a century was doing so much – naturally – for employee compensation, a minimum-wage maelstrom is gathering force simultaneously in both Boise and Washington D.C., beginning with tomorrow’s full House vote on H.R. 582, the so-called Raise the Wage Act that would boost the rate to $15 per hour.
“For the past two years, Idaho small businesses have been creating jobs and increasing worker pay at a breakneck pace,” said Suzanne Budge, Idaho state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. “The 45-year highs in hiring, pay, and business-expansion plans measured by NFIB’s Small Business Economic Trends report each month for the past two years are a result of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which significantly lowered the tax burden on small-business owners. The Raise the Wage Act and, here at home, the ballot initiative being pushed by Idahoans for a Fair Minimum Wage will do nothing but harm the young starting out on their work lives and the least skilled who stand to lose employment if the minimum-wage rate is tampered with. As the Characteristics of minimum wage workers, 2018 report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics documents, it is those two group who are adversely affected by increases in the minimum wage—a wage, by the way, earned by just 2 percent of working Americans. Raising the minimum wage does absolutely nothing to alleviate poverty.”
In a letter to U.S. House members, NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan wrote, “The Raise the Wage Act will eliminate hundreds of thousands of small business jobs. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office confirms that this legislation will damage the small business economy, estimating that 1.3 million workers will become jobless and total real income will be reduced by $9 billion by 2025. NFIB’s own Research Center estimates this legislation will cost the economy 1.6 million jobs, reduce real GDP by over $980 billion, and reduce economic output by more than $2 trillion by 2029 …
“… Small businesses employ nearly half of the private-sector workforce. More than doubling the federal minimum wage over a short period will have real and significant consequences for small business owners and employees.”
Keep up with the latest on Idaho small business at www.nfib.com/idaho or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_ID
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For more than 75 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
National Federation of Independent Business/Idaho
802 W. Bannock, Ste. 301
Boise, ID 83702
208-345-6632
www.nfib.com/idaho
Twitter: NFIB_ID
