COLUMBUS – Democratic lawmakers want to give Ohio’s lowest-paid workers a raise, though the proposal faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Statehouse.
The legislators, flanked by workers’ advocates and progressive policy experts, announced a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage in 50-cent-an-hour steps to $15 per hour over the next seven years.
“Raising the minimum wage is good for our economy and good for business,” said Sen. Joe Schiavoni (D-Boardman), a candidate for governor.
“When people are bringing home more money, they spend it in their local economy. That means increased demand for goods and services creating more jobs,” he said.
Schiavoni announced the companion legislation Tuesday, along with House Assistant Democratic Whip Brigid Kelly (D-Cincinnati) and Senate Assistant Democratic Whip Cecil Thomas (D-Cincinnati).
They say would give a raise to 1.8 million Ohioans who have seen their wages stagnate over the past four decades despite growth in the overall economy.
Almost 70 percent of new jobs in Ohio pay poverty wages and a family of three with a breadwinner who works full-time at minimum wage makes $3,500 below the poverty line, according to Hannah Halbert, researcher for Policy Matters Ohio.
Hear Halbert’s interview on “Perspective”
Halbert says, since 1979, 60 percent of Ohio workers have seen their inflation-adjusted wages decline in comparison to workers of the previous generation despite national economic growth and the fact that workers today are more likely to have a high school diploma or college degree.
“A job should lift you out of poverty – not keep you in it,” said Kelly.
The bill is not expected to get much support in the Republican-dominated legislature which has been demonstrably hostile to minimum-wage increases. The General Assembly in 2016 banned cities from raising their local minimum wages.
Business groups have already weighed in with their opposition despite a 2014 survey the lawmakers cited, from the American Sustainable Business Council and Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, which found that small business owners believe would be a boon to the economy.
A study released by the Ohio Restaurant Association in 2016 showed that increasing Cleveland’s minimum wage to $15 per hour would eliminate more than 2,500 jobs — over half of which are held by women, according to a report in the Dayton Daily News.
Ohio’s minimum wage currently sits at $8.30 per hour, $4.15 per hour for tipped workers. The legislation introduced by the Democratic lawmakers calls for a hike to $12 per hour in 2019 and 50-cent raises every year until 2025 when the wage reaches $15 per hour.
The minimum wage would continue to be adjusted upward for inflation every year as called for in a constitutional amendment approved by voters. Ohio is one of 18 states that has tied annual minimum-wage increases to inflation.