Editor’s note: This commentary is by Kate Larose, of St. Albans City, who is the Financial Futures director at Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity. She is currently running as a Democrat for the Franklin 3-1 House seat.
[W]ith May Day just around the corner, I find myself thinking about two pieces of legislation currently being considered in Montpelier: a bill to incrementally raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and another to establish a statewide family and medical leave insurance program.
May Day, which is on May 1, is celebrated in countries around the world as International Workers Day. It serves as a sobering reminder of the pain, suffering and tireless advocacy that marks many of the working conditions that we have come to take for granted here in the United States: a standard eight-hour workday and 40-hour workweek, two-day weekends, and a ban on child labor.
Most people agree that these laws have resulted in better working and living conditions for our citizens and families. And arguably, they are also better for our economy as a healthy, happy workforce is a productive workforce. But 150 years ago these ideas seemed preposterous. People died for these protections to be granted that most of us enjoy today without giving it too much thought.
Just as with 40-hour workweeks, Saturdays and Sundays off, and the collective agreement that 8-year-olds should be in school and not sweatshops, S.40 (minimum wage) and H.196 (family leave) — when passed — will help create a stronger economy and healthier workforce for Vermont.
The opposition (lobbyists paid by Walmart and chains of profitable Vermont gas stations) would have us believe that a vote for S.40 would hurt small business but cite no evidence. They conveniently don’t mention that the majority of minimum wage workers are employed by organizations with 50 or more employees. And that Washington — a state with the nation’s highest minimum wage in 2014 — was ranked at the top of the list for small business growth that many attribute to the increase. Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour will be a slow and incremental process that will take six years to fully take effect to give employers — especially small businesses — the time they need to adjust. In the first year, for example, this would only mean an hourly raise of 30 cents — a 2.7 percent increase to ensure that their workers can better provide for their families.
Another issue that is commonly raised is that people will fall off of the benefits cliff. This is a very real concern. And it’s already happening to people now and must be addressed. That’s why S.40 has language that ensures an adjustment of the market rate in the child care financial assistance plan which would correspond to each annual minimum wage increase. No one who currently has access to child care subsidies would lose them because the minimum wage incrementally increased. And while other benefits may be lost or reduced — such as fuel assistance, a change in renter rebate, or 3 Squares amounts — the Joint Fiscal Office has testified that families making minimum wage would still come out ahead. (For example, a single parent working full time with an infant would lose $436 in benefits, but gain $633 in income.)
It’s also worth mentioning that study after study show that this will add $240 million into our economy as low-wage workers are more likely to spend raises locally. That’s good for stabilizing our economy and helping local families not just scrape to get by, but maybe even get ahead.
Paid family and medical leave insurance is also an important piece to this puzzle. Without paid family and medical leave insurance any wage gains could easily be lost if folks have to drastically cut hours, or leave work entirely, for an extended period of time. Currently only 11 percent of workers in the U.S. have access to paid family leave through an employer, and less than 40 percent have access to personal medical leave. The majority of working families in our state face severe hardship without paid time off to care for their newborn or adopted children, recover from illness or injuries, or take care of aging parents.
That means that thousands of our neighbors are only one new family member, unexpected medical incident, or ailing parent away from economic tailspin. More than 40 percent of U.S. bankruptcies are the result of lost income when an employee or a family member falls ill. Does this sound like the foundations of a healthy, sustainable economy to you? One where you would want to move and raise a family or be able to care for a loved one?
At a time when we seem to be grappling for new ways to keep young people from moving away, while also attracting younger workers and their families to move into our state, I have to wonder if raising the standard of living for thousands of our friends and neighbors by passing S.40 and H.196 isn’t the most effective, and the simplest.
This May Day, I urge my fellow citizens to join me in standing for working families and request that our elected officials vote in favor of S.40 and H.196. It’s the right thing to do for Vermont families today, and it will help our economy and state to thrive for generations to come.
