In the wave of Republican victories Tuesday, one traditionally Democratic measure succeeded in several conservative-leaning states.
Minimum wage ballot initiatives passed in Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota and another is expected to pass in Alaska. Politico characterized this victory as “some rare good news to Democrats in desperate need of some.”
Alaska: The minimum wage will rise from $7.75 an hour today to $9.75 by 2016.
Arkansas: The minimum wage will rise from $6.25 an hour now to $8.50 by 2017.
Nebraska: From $7.25 today to $9.00 by 2016.
South Dakota: From $7.25 currently to $8.50 next year; it will be adjusted for inflation thereafter.
President Obama proposed raising federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10. According to Politico, opposition to this measure was “not particularly damaging to Republican candidates,” and they also noted that Obama himself did not make the increase a large issue in the election.
These state-level victories might embolden the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee “to call loudly for an increase,” according to Politico.
According to CNN, 71 percent of Americans favor a minimum wage hike, but only 36% support Obama’s proposal of $10.10.
James Sherk, a senior policy analyst in labor economics , called a wage hike to $10.10 “unprecedented,” and said that it would have serious implications for the economy:
A $10.10 per hour minimum wage would set it one-seventh above its inflation-adjusted historical high. Businesses would have difficulty absorbing these cost increases—minimum-wage workers’ pay has closely tracked their productivity. Businesses would have to instead cut jobs, making it more difficult for unskilled workers to gain the experience necessary to get ahead.
According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would result in about 500,000 job losses. The CBO also estimates raising the minimum wage to $9 would result in about 100,000 job losses.
