‘Frightening, devastating, and could push us out of business.’ This is how one longtime NFIB/MA member feels about the minimum wage hike proposal being considered in Massachusetts.
Currently, the state’s minimum wage workers earn $11 per hour, but if activists from Raise Up Massachusetts get their way, the base wage would rise by $1 each year until it reaches $15 per hour in 2022. At that point, the rate would be tied to inflation and would automatically increase each year with the cost of living.
If Massachusetts lawmakers don’t approve this proposal through the legislative process, the question would go before voters in November. While legislators are working to find a compromise that would prevent the question from going on the ballot, the minimum wage hike proponents from Raise Up have no intention of negotiating—the Boston Globe reported that their strategy was ‘take it or leave it’ and that they’re confident in the chances of success if the measure does go before voters. In the meantime, they have been increasing their lobbying efforts with a series of briefings held around the state.
NFIB/MA State Director Chris Carlozzi has been vocal in opposing the measure on behalf of members who are concerned. In an op-ed that appeared in various publications across the state, he wrote: “Seattle, an early adopter of a $15 minimum wage, released a study in 2017 after that city’s incremental increase to $13 per hour. It found that nine months after the second tier of wage hikes, about 5,000 low-wage jobs disappeared, the number of hours worked by low-wage workers dropped by 3.5 million hours, and their wages dropped by $6 million.” And, he notes, since Massachusetts is one of only two states with time-and-a-half pay on Sundays, a $15 minimum wage means a $22.50 hourly wage for retail shops on that day—this is a staggering wage mandate for small employers to absorb.
A $15 minimum wage doesn’t just hurt employers, either; it hurts the workers that the bill is trying to help. For example, a recent report from the Mercatus Center at George Washington University found that higher minimum wages are a major contributor to increased teen unemployment. So, as wage mandates increase, job opportunities for young, entry-level, or low-skilled workers decrease, making it harder for them to gain job skills and enter the workforce at all.
As Raise Up activists continue to push this dangerous bill, it’s important that lawmakers hear from Massachusetts employers about the real impact it will have.
