Word: minimum
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...Minimum Wage May Pay Off for Dems In six states where minimum wage initiatives are on the ballot, pocketbook politics could help swing the vote
...this for a November surprise? On Election Day, the millions of dollars poured into campaigns in states such as Ohio and Missouri may pale in value compared to the power of a simple buck. That's about the amount by which the minimum wage would increase under ballot initiatives in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana, Nevada and Ohio. And as support for the initiatives hovers at around 70%, according to polls in those states, analysts expect widespread backing for the measures to help drive voter turnout on behalf of progressive candidates...
...Proponents of the six initiatives want their states to join the 22 others that have already raised state minimum wage levels above the federal figure, which has been stuck at $5.15 for nearly a decade. With the value of the federal minimum wage now at its lowest inflation-adjusted total in 50 years, proponents of the initiatives argue that states have to step in on behalf of the poorest of workers. Opponents say mandated wage hikes would hurt business owners and cost jobs...
...Although wage initiatives crop up periodically, this year the stagnation of the federal minimum wage inspired initiative proponents to add a powerful element to each of their proposals: indexing the wage floor to inflation. The idea is to ensure that low-wage workers don't see their purchasing power decline every year as costs rise and their wages remain static. Washington, Oregon, Florida and Vermont have already enacted such indexes. Opponents argue that indexing could lead to spiraling labor costs, but a recent analysis by Michael Ettlinger of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a progressive research institute, suggests that there...
...Given the popularity of the minimum wage proposals, opponents have been trying out novel strategies. In Ohio the latest tack has been to argue that the the fine print in the state's ballot initiative represents a threat to employer and employee privacy. A group called Ohioans to Protect Personal Privacy (OTPPP) has placed ads to that effect, urging voters to reject the initiative because they claim it would enable nearly anyone to access employees' job records without their permission. But Peter P. Swire, a law professor at the Ohio State University and former Chief Counselor for Privacy...