New York, California raise minimum wage well beyond Mass. wage floor
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Despite increases by other states to a $15 an hour minimum wage, Gov. Charlie Baker does not want to follow suit.
On the same day that the governors of California and New York signed laws to ramp up the minimum wage in those states to $15 an hour, Gov. Charlie Baker said he was in no rush to follow the leads of his Democratic counterparts.
Baker, a Republican, supported the 2014 legislation that will increase Massachusetts's minimum wage to $11 an hour next January in the third and final installment of a law passed while he was campaigning for governor. But Baker on Monday said he agrees with House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat, who called it "premature" to start thinking of another increase.
"I certainly share the concerns that others have about the state of income inequality in Massachusetts, which is why we were so supportive of raising the earned income tax credit, which we managed to do once and hopefully we'll be able to do it again and why we supported the increase in the minimum wage," Baker said after meeting with top Democrats in the weekly sit down on Monday.
While the Republican governor and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat, both said they believe it would be too soon to reignite a debate over pay just two years after the Legislature approved a $3 increase in the state hourly minimum wage, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said the issue is "under very active discussion" in the Senate.
Rosenberg, an Amherst Democrat, broached the wage debate twice on Monday, the same day the California Gov. Jerry Brown and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed laws that would eventually give their states the highest minimum wages in the country. Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton joined Cuomo for an event in New York City to mark the signing of the law.
At both the Greater Boston Labor Council breakfast on Monday morning and later in response to questions from reporters, Rosenberg said Senate leaders, including Sen. Daniel Wolf, have raised the topic in both general caucus meetings and with Rosenberg's senior leadership team.
"No decisions have been made, but it is under very active discussion," Rosenberg said.
DeLeo, who has repeatedly said that he could not envision the House revisiting the issue of the minimum wage this session, said Monday he believes it's important to wait until after the final increase to $11 takes effect in January and businesses "settle in on that."
"Then we can have a discussion. I think it's premature now for us to talk about any changes that we would extend presently until the new minimum wage should come into place and then at that point start the process and discussion," he said.
Baker concurred: "I'm with the speaker. I think we should let the one we have play out."
Rosenberg, who on Monday also voiced his support in front of labor leaders for a proposed amendment to the state constitution to tax millionaires extra on income over $1 million, wrapped the minimum wage debate into a broader discussion of income inequality.
"I support a living wage and we need to keep moving up," he said. "Income inequality is rampant in this country. Massachusetts is among the most significantly unequal between the top earners and the lowest and Boston is among the leading cities in the country. Thank goodness we have such a vibrant economy. It drives up wages, but the people at the lowest end are really struggling."
Baker said there are other ways to tackle income inequality this year that don't necessarily require consideration of additional minimum wage increases beyond 2017. The governor pointed to his own $950 million economic development, which will have a hearing in the Legislature on Tuesday, that includes $75 million in capital grants for vocational and technical schools to help students learn the skills needed in the economy.
"There are a lot of elements to this discussion and certainly the minimum wage is one, but I think Massachusetts is pursuing what I would describe as a multi-faceted approach to this and that's the right way to go," Baker said.
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