After stalling on raising and indexing the minimum wage, fearless leaders in the Minnesota Senate are hoping to put the question on the ballot in November as an amendment to the state constitution.
Unlike Republicans who placed voter suppression and marriage inequality on the 2012 ballot in order to please the supporters on both measures, Senators Tom Bakk and Ann Rest are pursuing this approach against the resolute objections of the broad-based coalition that's been fighting for an indexed $9.50 minimum wage.
Why do we smell the sweet civet odor of insincerity in the air around this bill?
Via the St. Cloud Times, the Associated Press reports in Minnesota voters may decide minimum wage-inflation link:
Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk proposed Thursday giving voters power to decide whether Minnesota’s minimum wage climbs automatically.
A constitutional amendment that he and another prominent senator, Ann Rest of New Hope, put in play would ask voters this fall if the wage should be linked to inflation. Bakk said he worries that a legislatively adopted minimum-wage indexing feature could be susceptible to repeal later. He said 10 of 11 states with an automatic inflator have accomplished that through a referendum of some kind.
Oh really? Frankly, Bluestem finds this new approach to raising the minimum wage to be an act befitting a leader like Bakk, who lacks political courage, while taking his encouragement mostly from the praise of Republicans and big business, rather than those who brough him to the dance.
Bakk's new-found allies should come in so helpful if the Democrats should lose control of the governor's office and the Minnesota House in November, Bluestem is sure.
Rest on indexing: "bad policy"
More on that later. First, let's review where Ann Rest stands on indexing the minimum wage. After all, Bluestem's been keeping that MN Senate minimum wage constituent Whip Count since March 6, and so we have a pretty good idea what Senator Rest thinks about the policywhich she's proposing to enshrine into the state constitution.
While Republicans like Scott Newman and Mary Kiffmeyer were true believers in the voter suppression amendment they flung at voters, Rest's move seems much less heartfelt, if one looks at her March 7, 2014 "2014 Capitol Update." In a "Note From Ann" on page 3, Rest wrote:
I appreciate the many contacts I have received regarding the minimum wage debate at the Legislature. I am becoming more comfortable supporting a higher wage than that which the Senate passed last year, but I will not vote for a bill that includes inflationary increases. Legislators should be willing to do the right thing consciously and vote for increases when they are appropriate. I sincerely hope that the conferees recognize that compromise is what will result in success, not steely insistence that only one side of an issue can be “right.”
Okay then. But there's more. In an email to a constiuent dated March 19, 2014, the senator from New Hope wrote:
From: Sen.Ann Rest
Date: Wed, 3/19/2014 1:15 PM
To: [redacted]
Cc: [redacted]
Subject:Re: Minimum WageMr.[redacted]
I am waiting for a bill that shows the House is willing to compromise. I haven't seen any evidence of that yet. The Senate has compromised. I hope a bill is reported that does [not?] have the auto- pilot language in it. It is bad policy.
Ann Rest
Sent from my iPad
Senator Ann H. Rest
235 State Capitol
St Paul MN 55155
Now, we're not quite sure that she meant--as she wrote--"I hope a bill is reported that does have the auto- pilot language in it;" since that doesn't make good sense, we've inserted [not?] in the sentence. However, with the bill for the amendment thrown in the hopper, maybe she's just perverse and seeks to put what she calls "bad policy" in action on the floor of the Senate.
Bakk to the future?
After passing a minimum wage bill last year that would have only raised the state's minimum wage to $7.75, Bakk now insists that he's signed on to the Rest bill for an amendment just to protect those poor workers:
“The constitution is intended to protect the rights of the minority. These low-wage workers are a minority of Minnesotans. This gives them some protection that their wages would keep up with inflation,” said Bakk, a retired carpenter from Cook. “It meets my test that this is important enough that it belongs in the constitution.”
And there's this:
Although he has pushed this year to make it harder for measures to reach the ballot, Bakk said he wouldn’t hesitate to proceed even if it’s a party-line vote. “The choice for Republicans is: Put it in statute or do you want the voters to decide?” he said.
This is astonishing cheek on Bakk's part. It's not the Republicans who've been stalling on putting the indexed minimum wage, and since Bakk supposed Majority Leader of a DFL caucus, their objections matter not.
Nope, it's been folks like Ann Rest who's been objecting to indexing raises in the minimum wage.
Now, if this turkey makes it through both chambers and heads to the voters in November, Blesutem fully expects the coalition to take up the amendment and persuade voters of its worth. Getting voters to the polls on this may even help House DFLers, all of whom should leadership and voted for the $9.50 indexed minimum wage.
The senate isn't up for election until 2016, a presidential year, and so perhaps the Raise the Wage Coalition can look around for some progressive talent to run for the Minnesota Senate. Enough said.
Photo: Official photo for Senator Ann Rest, who is sincere about this amendment, for sure.
If you enjoyed reading this post, consider giving a donation via mail (P.O. Box 108, Maynard MN 56260) or paypal:
Comments