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Eau Claire County $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question (November 2014)
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A Eau Claire County $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question ballot measure was on the November 4, 2014 election ballot for voters in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. It was approved.
The measure enacted a county resolution calling for the state to increase the statewide minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. This advisory referendum question, which had no direct effect, was put on the ballot in a cooperative effort with several other counties and cities, which featured referendums on November election ballots due to petition drives in some cases and direct legislative resolutions from county boards of supervisors in others. In the case of Eau Claire County, the county supervisors approved a resolution to put this question before voters.[1]
Election results
| Eau Claire County $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Yes | 24,702 | 60.81% | ||
| No | 15,920 | 39.19% | ||
Election results via: Eau Claire County
Background
Due to 2005 Assembly Bill 49, which prohibited local government agencies from enacting a minimum wage different from the state minimum wage, the counties and cities that participated in the Raise Wisconsin referendum cannot directly enact a higher wage requirement. This leaves the advisory referendum, which would serve to urge state lawmakers to boost the compensation of low-wage workers, as the only opportunity to impact the issue through local ballots. At the time of the November 2014 election, the state minimum wage was $7.25 per hour.[2][3]
History of AB 49
On March 30, 2004, Madison, Wisconsin, enacted a minimum wage ordinance to increase the city's hourly wage to $7.75 by 2008. In 2004, the federal and state hourly minimum wages were $5.15. The Madison Common Council highlighted the city's high cost of living versus other parts of the state and country. They argued that state and federal minimum wages “were inadequate to allow workers to meet their family’s basic needs.” Madison utilized “statutory home rule” to increase the minimum wage. Statutory home rule permitted the city to enact legislation “for the government and good order of the city, for its commercial benefit, and for the health, safety, and welfare of the public.”[4]
An organization called Main Street Coalition for Economic Growth, Inc. sued Madison in the Dane County Circuit Court, arguing that the ordinance was beyond the scope of municipal power. Judge Maryann Sumi denied the injunction, saying the city’s minimum-wage ordinance was “a valid exercise of municipal home-rule power.”[4]
In 2005, a group of state representatives introduced Assembly Bill 49.[5] AB 49 was approved and provided that “[a] city, village, town, or county may not enact and administer an ordinance establishing a living wage” unless that ordinance adheres to state minimum wage laws. Moreover, it voided any local minimum wage ordinance already in effect.[6] Governor Jim Doyle (D) signed the bill in exchange for an increase in the statewide minimum wage to $6.50. Therefore, Madison's minimum wage ordinance was invalidated.[4]
Text of measure
Ballot question
The question on the ballot was:[7]
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Shall the State Assembly and the State Senate pass, and the governor sign, legislation setting the minimum wage in Wisconsin at $10.10/hour, annually indexed to inflation, and abolishing the state tipped minimum wage of $2.33/hour?[8] |
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Full text
The full text of the resolution that was approved by a "yes" vote on this question:[7]
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DIRECTING THE COUNTY CLERK TO PLACE THE REFERENDUM QUESTION CONTAINED IN THIS RESOLUTION ON THE NOVEMBER, 2014 BALLOT TO INCREASE THE MINIMUM WAGE AND ABOLISH THE STATE TIPPED MINIMUM WAGE- WHEREAS, this country and this state are still in recovery from the recent recession; and WHEREAS, a key strategy for economic recovery and for helping working families make ends meet is raising the minimum wage because low-wage workers spend their income in the local community and boost the local economy; and WHEREAS, solid research demonstrates that increases in minimum wage do not lead to job loss but, in fact, to economic recovery and growth; and WHEREAS, the current federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour (passed in 2009) and the Wisconsin minimum wage is $7.25/hour and state tipped minimum wage is $2.33/hour (adjusted in 2009), which amounts to an annual income of $15,080 for the full-time, year-round worker; and WHEREAS, the current value of the minimum wage has fallen sharply since the first mandated minimum wage of $1.60/hour in 1968, which would today, if adjusted for inflation, be $10.70/hour; and WHEREAS, the previous comprehensive minimum wage legislation in Wisconsin was passed in 1997, 18 years ago; and WHEREAS, according to the federal Congressional Budget Office, the $10.10 minimum wage would cost employers about one-third of a cent for every dollar in wages; and WHEREAS, the state tipped minimum wage , which originally was 60% of the minimum wage, was frozen in 1991 and currently represents less than 30% of the minimum wage; and WHEREAS, the overwhelming majority of tipped workers earn very low wages; and WHEREAS, 13 states currently index their minimum wage to inflation; and WHEREAS, annual indexing of the minimum wage to inflation will prevent erosion of real wages; and WHEREAS, the following advisory referendum question is an effective way to determine whether the citizens of Eau Claire County support raising the minimum wage. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Eau Claire County Board of Supervisors directs the county clerk to place the following referendum question on the Eau Claire County ballot for November 4, 2014, and that this resolution be sent to Governor Scott Walker, the Speaker of the Assembly, the President of the Senate, Senator Kathleen Vinehout, Senators Kathleen Vinehout and Terry Moulton, Representatives Dana Wachs, Warren Petryk and Kathy Bernier and the Wisconsin Counties Association.[8] |
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| —Eau Claire County Board of Supervisors[7] | ||
Support
Raise Wisconsin was the main group orchestrating the many local efforts to request the state to raise the minimum wage.[9]
Wisconsin Jobs Now also supported the effort to pressure the state legislature to raise the minimum wage.[10]
United Wisconsin also backed the effort.[11]
Arguments in favor
Peter Rickman, the Campaign Director for Raise Wisconsin, said, “It’s time to raise the wage so that we can raise our economy and raise Wisconsin. Working people in our state need a raise, and we will win the higher wages necessary to address staggering income inequality, to increase economic opportunity, and to improve living standards.”[10]
Jennifer Epps-Addison, Executive Director of Wisconsin Jobs Now, said, “For too long, our communities have needed more economic opportunity and security. Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 is a critical first step to transform the low-wage jobs of today into family-supporting jobs that can build a new middle class for Milwaukee’s future.”[10]
Kevin Kane, the Lead Organizer for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, pointed out that Wisconsin, at the time of the referendum, was surrounded by states with a higher minimum wage, but the state's job market, as well as the economy generally, was lagging. Kane said the issue was that there was not enough purchasing power to boost the economy and provide for thriving businesses. The goal of activists seeking a higher minimum wage was to put more money in the hands of Wisconsinites, allowing them to spend more at local businesses. According to the Raise Wisconsin website, increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would inject over $517 million into the Wisconsin economy and would generate 3,800 new jobs to meet the demand from the surge in the economy.[12][13]
Opposition
Kenosha Supervisor Erin Decker said that the referendum could simply be an effort to sway the fall election against Gov. Scott Walker (R). Decker said, “There is an organized effort to put this on the ballot statewide, mostly in counties that they hope to turn out one side of the aisle to vote, so they vote against the current governor."[14]
Similar measures
Related measures
Other Raise Wisconsin measures:
City of Neenah $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question (November 2014)
City of Menasha $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question (November 2014)
City of Appleton $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question (November 2014)
Milwaukee County $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question (November 2014)
Kenosha County $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question (November 2014)
Eau Claire County $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question (November 2014)
Dane County $10.10 Per Hour State Minimum Wage Advisory Question (November 2014)
Local
City of Oakland Minimum Wage Increase Initiative, Measure FF (November 2014)
City of San Francisco Minimum Wage Increase Referred Measure, Proposition J (November 2014)
City of Eureka "Fair Wage Act" Minimum Wage Initiative, Measure R (November 2014)
Raise Wisconsin minimum wage increase advisory referendums
City of San Diego $12 per Hour Minimum Wage Initiative (November 2014)
City of San Diego $13.09 per Hour Minimum Wage Measure (November 2014)
City of Las Cruces Minimum Wage Increase Initiative (November 2014)
Washington D.C. Minimum Wage Initiative (November 2014)
City of Seattle $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage Increase Veto Referendum (November 2014)
City of Seattle $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage Initiative (November 2014)
City of San Francisco Minimum Wage Act of 2014 Initiative (November 2014)
Philadelphia Minimum Wage Ordinance, Proposition 1 (May 2014)
City of Chicago $15 Per Hour Minimum Wage Referendum (March 2014)
SeaTac "Good Jobs Initiative", Proposition 1 (November 2013)
City of Richmond Minimum Wage Increase Ballot Question (November 2014)
Statewide
Alaska Minimum Wage Increase, Ballot Measure 3 (2014)
Arkansas Minimum Wage Initiative (2014)
South Dakota Increased Minimum Wage, Initiated Measure 18 (2014)
California Minimum Wage Supplement for Home Health Workers (2014)
Idaho Minimum Wage Initiative (2014)
Massachusetts Minimum Wage Increase Initiative (2014)
Michigan Minimum Wage Initiative (2014)
Missouri Minimum Wage Initiative (2014)
New Mexico Minimum Wage Amendment (2014)
See also
- Local wages and pay on the ballot
- Eau Claire County, Wisconsin ballot measures
- November 4, 2014 ballot measures in Wisconsin
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Wisconsin Election Watch, "Voters to see medicaid, minimum wage referendums on November ballot," June 30, 2014
- ↑ BizTimes, "MADISON – Several Wisconsin counties to hold minimum wage advisory referendums," June 27, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Legislature website, "2005 Assembly Bill 49," accessed July 8, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Burchill, K. 2007. "Madison’s Minimum-Wage Ordinance, Section 104.001, and the Future of Home Rule in Wisconsin." Wisconsin Law Review 1: 151-199
- ↑ Wisconsin Legislature, "2005 Assembly Bill 49 History," accessed June 30, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Legislature, "2005 Assembly Bill 49 Text," accessed June 30, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Eau Claire County website, "Resolution File Number 14-15/031," June 30, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Raise Wisconsin website, accessed July 8, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Fox 6 News, "“Raise the minimum wage:” County Board votes to place referendum on the November ballot," June 26, 2014
- ↑ United Wisconsin website, accessed July 8, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff writer Josh Altic, "Phone interview with Kevin Kane, Lead Organizer of Citizen Action of Wisconsin," July 8, 2014
- ↑ Raise Wisconsin website, "Facts and Figures," accessed July 8, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedKenosha
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