The Colorado House of Representatives engaged in a half-day debate Thursday that will have little bearing on much of anything at the Capitol or in the lives of Coloradans. It was nevertheless an important topic: the federal minimum wage. Why state legislators have anything to say about the subject is a bit mystifying, though, and the time spent considering whether to support a resolution calling on Congress to increase the national minimum wage could have been better applied to searching for state and local solutions.
House Joint Resolution 1012, sponsored by Reps. Jovan Melton, D-Aurora, and Dominick Moreno, D-Commerce City, passed the House 38-24, with just one Republican joining Democrats in voting for the measure, which would encourage Congress to raise the federal minimum wage and index it to inflation, so that “hard-working Americans can earn a fair wage and afford to care for their families.” On its surface, this is a completely reasonable – essential, even – notion to support. The mechanism in question – a nonbinding and utterly symbolic resolution – is a bit less so. For their part, Republicans were upset with their Democratic counterparts, as much for springing the resolution on the Legislature as for the measure’s contents. Both are understandable concerns. As House Minority Leader Brian DelGrosso, R-Loveland, rightly put it, “Whether it’s this resolution or a letter to Santa Claus, we would like to have a say.”
But the resolution’s meat – as well as the ensuing 10 amendments that Republicans attempted to add – missed an important opportunity that would have been worth the 4½ hours lawmakers spent debating the resolution. Wage issues for America’s and Colorado’s lowest-level earners are important matters to address; a resolution from Colorado lawmakers telling Congress to do something about them is not addressing it, and the Legislature is very much in a position to make meaningful progress on wages.
Colorado voters increased the state’s minimum wage in 2006, indexing it to inflation. It is currently $8 an hour – above the federal floor of $7.25. Whether a federal increase is appropriate or relevant is an important conversation to have, but not necessarily for Colorado lawmakers, who can exact meaningful change on Colorado wages by addressing the state’s minimum. Entering the federal discussion, with a resolution that is more window dressing than actual engagement, does nothing to change living and working conditions for Coloradans, though it does put lawmakers on record with respect to their positions on the matter – whatever that is worth.
Because wages’ value is linked most closely with the location in which they are paid – as a result of cost of living – state and local lawmakers can make the most impact if they focus their efforts on their communities. That is neither a simple nor an easy endeavor. Raising minimum wages can have important implications on low-wage workers, but it can have significant ramifications for employers as well. The formula is complex, and the political stakes are potentially high. Given that, it is not altogether surprising the Colorado House chose to keep their role symbolic, with both parties making statements that were consistent with their respective ideologies. That way, lawmakers could avoid the difficulty of making meaningful progress on the very real and growing problem of income disparity – a national issue to be sure, but one felt acutely in Colorado, too.
