Senate Votes to Postpone Minimum Wage Hike until July 1, 2014
“Any debate on increasing the minimum wage should be balanced and coupled with proposals to reform our state’s Unemployment Insurance system by bringing benefit and eligibility requirements in line with a majority of other states,” Anderson said. “Failure to balance costs of social reforms with business economic realities will, in the long term, drive business and growth out of the state.”
Anderson said the state’s second-highest in the nation payroll tax hurts the ability of small-to-medium sized business to hire, and said a “successful legislative proposal” would not index future wage increases to inflation, and would reduce the duration of unemployment benefits for any one person to 26 weeks.
By Michael Norton, Matt Murphy and Colleen Quinn
State House News Service
With the timetable and scope of House legislation addressing the minimum wage still uncertain, the Senate on Tuesday voted to amend its minimum wage bill to begin raising the wage on July 1, 2014, instead of Jan. 1, 2014.
The Senate also voted 31-7 to increase the minimum wage for tipped employees from $2.63 per hour, a level set in 1999, to half the minimum wage.
Under the amended bill being debated, the minimum wage would rise from $8 to $9 on July 1, 2014, $10 on July 1, 2015 and $11 on July 1, 2016.
The Senate voted 30-8 against a Sen. Kathleen O’Connor Ives (D-Newburyport) amendment that would have stopped the minimum wage increase at $9 and decoupled future increases from inflation, and rejected on a 35-3 vote a proposal to lower the minimum wage for teenagers under 18 years old.
Also during debate, the Senate by a voice vote rejected a Sen. Richard Ross amendment eliminating time-and-a-half or “premium pay” for workers who work on Sundays.
Sen. Robert Hedlund, a Weymouth Republican who owns a restaurant in Braintree, argued against the increase in the minimum wage for tipped employees, saying it would raise restaurant owners’ costs at a time when the industry struggles with rising food costs and fewer customers.
Sen. Daniel Wolf, a Harwich Democrat, argued in favor of the increase, saying tipped employees face increased grocery and fuel costs too.
Dave Andelman, president of the Restaurant and Business Alliance, noted state law already requires employers to make up the difference if a tipped worker’s wages and tips don’t equal the minimum wage.
Andelman said restaurants are facing the “perfect storm” of poor economic conditions and low levels of disposable income. He argued that paying workers who rely on tips closer to the minimum wage will discourage patrons of bars and restaurants from tipping those employees.
“It seems incredibly illogical and counterproductive to me to raise the minimum wage to the highest in the nation,” he said. “I don’t think these reps take the time to call any business owners in their districts to ask, ‘How will this impact you?’ ”
Debate on the bill continued after 4 p.m.
With Wednesday being the last day for the Legislature to hold formal sessions until after the New Year, it’s uncertain when or if the House will take up a minimum wage bill this session. House Speaker Robert DeLeo has said he’d like to couple any increase in the minimum wage with reforms to the state’s unemployment insurance system.
Chris Anderson, president of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, echoed the speaker’s sentiments in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“Any debate on increasing the minimum wage should be balanced and coupled with proposals to reform our state’s Unemployment Insurance system by bringing benefit and eligibility requirements in line with a majority of other states,” Anderson said. “Failure to balance costs of social reforms with business economic realities will, in the long term, drive business and growth out of the state.”
Anderson said the state’s second-highest in the nation payroll tax hurts the ability of small-to-medium sized business to hire, and said a “successful legislative proposal” would not index future wage increases to inflation, and would reduce the duration of unemployment benefits for any one person to 26 weeks.