The Biden Administration will push to implement a federal minimum wage of 15 dollars an hour, up from the current federal minimum of 7.25 an hour.
Louisiana is one of five states to not raise its minimum above the federal. Louisiana Budget Project head Jan Moller, who a legislative advocate for working-class families, said the minimum hasn’t increased in 12 years and we’re past due for 15 dollars an hour.
“15 dollars an hour represents about 31,000 dollars a year for someone working full time, which is what it takes to put a roof over your head, food in your stomach, gas in your car, and maybe have a little bit leftover,” said Moller.
Moller said the increase to 15 dollars an hour would result in a raise for roughly half of all Louisiana workers if you account for the pay bump that would likely occur for people at or just over 15 now.
The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry opposes the increase. VP of Governmental Relations Jim Patterson said it would result in lost jobs.
“Employers are going to be forced to assess if this individual is actually providing a value with their work,” said Patterson.
The National Employment Law Project reports 27 states and municipalities have increased their minimum to 15 an hour. Moller said that hasn’t resulted in overall job losses.
“There may be some jobs that are lost but also new jobs are going to be created because workers are going to have more money to spend and consumer spending is more than two-thirds of the economy,” said Moller.
Patterson argued increasing the minimum wage would hurt American companies’ ability to compete internationally, and result in higher prices for goods and services.
“That is going to be the impact, you cannot escape the economics of it,” said Patterson.
It is likely the increase would be phased in over a number of years, but an exact timeline has not yet been revealed.
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