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One of the most important pieces of legislation I worked on this session was to increase the minimum wage in New Mexico. Our current $7.50 an hour has lost significant ground to inflation since it was first enacted, and the hard-working people of New Mexico deserve to participate in the economic recovery that others are enjoying across our nation and state.
Enacting a higher minimum wage puts more food on the table for the most vulnerable among us.
Gov. Susana Martinez has said, however, that she will veto SB 416 even as she signs legislation slashing the tax rate for corporations. Even though New Mexico has the largest income gap between the wealthy and the poor, Martinez called the proposed $1 increase a “gimmick.” Yet a wealth of evidence suggests that the best way to help hard-working families, as well as the larger economy, is to pay low-wage workers more for the work they do and to let their new wages stimulate the economy.
Martinez is offering no solutions for working people, just for big business.
Passing a minimum wage bill is no easy task. Opinions and emotions run high.
As I worked with Sen. Richard Martinez to get the minimum wage through the committees and both floors of the Legislature, we tried to focus on three areas: The data on who works minimum wage and what kinds of jobs they do; the research that has been done on increases in the minimum wage; and stories about the people it will help. We also worked to dispel many of the myths about raising the minimum wage.
As a researcher and statistician, I researched what happened in the past when the minimum wage was raised. The research showed no significant rise in unemployment nor inflation as a result.
Next I looked at economic theory and talked to a highly regarded Harvard economist about the economic impact that would be expected. The economic impact is significant when money is put back into the economy at the lower end. It turns over or “churns” as goods and services are bought.
When money moves, the economy improves.
One group of economists estimated that the $1 increase in New Mexico would create almost 600 jobs and help over 135,000 workers trying to get out of poverty.
Third, we looked at the economies of communities that enacted minimum increases compared with a community next to it without the higher minimum wage. The communities with the modestly higher minimum wage consistently had a more vibrant economy after the increase. This research was important in our presentations on the minimum wage.
Another part of passing the minimum wage was to tell stories of real people and how it would help them. I told the story of a family I had when I was an elementary school principal.
The parents were working hard at minimum-wage jobs trying to provide for their family. They were proud and tried to avoid public assistance. The children were in school every day but Monday mornings were famished. There wasn’t enough food in the house over the weekend. The additional $40 a week would provide food for the weekend, gas for the car so they could get to work, and help pay the electric bill and rent.
I told stories of my students at Onate High School who work minimum wage jobs.
They don’t do it to have spending money. Lots of the students work to help the family make ends meet. The additional money from an increase in minimum wage would help those families.
During the debate on the Senate floor, many other senators stood and told heart-wrenching stories of growing up poor or families in need. We know that about 70 percent of minimum wage earners are adults and that more than half have children. The increase in the minimum wage helps those children in reaching their potential.
It’s not too late for the governor to change her mind and sign SB 416, the minimum wage bill. It would help the working people of New Mexico, and it is the right thing to do because hard work deserves fair pay.
