The University Daily Kansan
Monday, July 15, 2013
Page 3
WAGES FROM PAGE 2
He believes it's essential to both regulate medical and dental costs, which he says are necessities of life, and he supports raising the minimum wage.
"We need to have what Canada has," Robbins said. "We can pay for it in taxes and everyone is covered. It takes away so much stress. A lot of people want to get paid more because they want medical insurance. It's kind of ridiculous to do one thing or the other, we need to do both."
University School of Business economist George Bittlingmayer agrees that the current state minimum wage is not a livable wage but warns about the unintended consequences of raising it too much.
"It clearly would be hard to support a family on that; there is no doubt about it," Bittlingmayer said. "But there are good reasons to think that raising the minimum wage could create damage. It could price people out of the labor market."
According to the Living Wage Calculator designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a single adult in Kansas would need to make a minimum of $9.02 per hour to stay above the poverty level.
A single adult with one child would
need to make more than $18.51 per hour and a single adult with two children would need to make $22.69 per hour, and so on.
In 1988, Kansas minimum wage was $2.65 per hour.
After some minor increases throughout the years, it was raised to $7.25 per hour in April 2009 when then Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed a new bill into law.
However, Kansas businesses that
gross more than $500,000 in sales annually or are involved in interstate commerce fall under federal minimum wage law.
"Ninety to 95 percent of Kansas businesses come under federal minis—a person's race, their gender and other factors in life — and certainly health is a big one." Stottlemire said. "We continue to fight the rhetoric of what do we do with our tax dollars. Until we begin looking at healthcare as a human right as opposed to something that only those that can pay for it receive, then we are stuck in this system of who is paying for whom... Raising the minimum wage is a step in the right direction in addressing
imum wage law," said Tim Triggs a labor conciliator with the Kansas Department of Labor.
Kansas Association of Community Action Programs Executive Director Tawny Stottlemi talks about the minimum wage issue as described in a 2012 Kansas Poverty Report released by her organization.
"The causes and conditions of poverty are different depending on where a person lives, what their background
poverty."
The number of people working for minimum wage in the United States rose from 1.7 million in 2007 to 3.6 million in 2012.
The loss of quality jobs in the country can be attributed to the economic crisis that wreaked havoc on many businesses nationwide in early 2008.
Adding to the fears of Kansas workers, Gov. Sam Brownback signed House Bill 2069 into law last April, banning Kansas communities from requiring private businesses to provide a living wage in excess of what is required by federal or state law.
"I'm a little disappointed," Stot-
tlemire said. "Legislation passed prohibiting communities from establishing their own living wages. When communities talk about raising the minimum wage, part of the argument that comes back is that it's going to be really bad for business and businesses are going to have to cut jobs.
The research has demonstrated that that is very rarely the case. I think it's very important to weigh the rhetoric against the reality when these types of decisions are made."
KACAP will be hosting the 2013 Poverty Conference in Topeka July 17-19 at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center.
They will show the HBO film "American Winter," which focuses on unemployment and wages in the U.S.
The film's producer and some of the cast will be present at the showing. It is free for the public.
Edited by Megan Hinman
It was 41 years ago this week that the KU Marching Band chose to end its all-male tradition. Earlier that year, Student Senate had threatened to cut the band's funding due to gender bias.
POLICE REPORTS Information based on the Douglas County Sheriff's Office booking recap.
- A 22-year-old male was arrested yesterday on the 2200 block of 25th Street for operating under the influence. Bond was set at $500.
- A 30-year-old male was arrested on Saturday in Clinton State Park for driving while intoxicated. Bond was set at $250.
- A 22-year-old female was arrested on Saturday on the 1800 block of Tennessee Street for operating under the influence and for transporting an open container of alcohol. Bond was set at $600.
Allison Kohn