Minnesota's minimum wage is set to jump from one of the lowest in the nation to one of the highest, promising a better standard of living for more than 350,000 workers but raising bottom-line concerns for some business owners.
Democrats who run the Legislature said Monday that by the end of the week the House and Senate will pass a proposal that's been one of their party's top legislative priorities this year. Once it becomes law, the minimum wage for businesses with more than half a million dollars in annual gross sales will rise in three successive steps, starting this August, from the current $6.15 an hour to $9.50 by 2016.
In 2017, the minimum wage would begin to rise automatically with inflation, up to 2.5 percent a year. That could mean a jump of 24 cents in 2018, and similar raises in successive years. "I look forward to signing this legislation into law," Gov. Mark Dayton said in a statement released Monday. Boosting the minimum wage has been a major Democratic goal in St. Paul and Washington, where President Obama has called for a federal minimum of $10 per hour and exhorted employers to raise minimums of their own accord.
The issue has been heavily supported by the party's allies in organized labor and other left-leaning groups, and is popular among Minnesotans.
More than 350,000 Minnesota workers are paid less than $9.50 an hour, many of them in greater Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
Sandra Miranda, who makes $9 an hour cleaning the Target store in Shakopee, is among those who welcome the increase.
"I have a 3-year old daughter and it's just me who cares for her," said Miranda, who works several jobs to make ends meet. "With the wage I have been making, it's not possible to do that well."
The eventual increase to $9.50 an hour would not be enough to allow her to move from the apartment she now shares with a roommate, but, she said, it might be enough to buy more fresh fruits and vegetables and less macaroni and cheese and other boxed dinners. Boosting the minimum wage is good, she said, "But I hope it continues to go up."