Elise Balin
Staff Writer
House Bill 0144, a proposal to raise Wyoming minimum wage standards and allow counties in Wyoming to enforce a minimum hourly wage that exceeds federal minimum wage within their land boundaries, failed in the early phases of senate introduction.
HB0144, sponsored by Representative Yin (D-Teton) and Senator Gierau (D-Teton), failed early in the legislative process. Yin and Gierau proposed to put this bill into place in order to clarify current state wage laws and give counties the authority to implement a higher minimum wage.
This proposed legislation planned to edit a current piece of Wyoming legislation, which stated Wyoming’s minimum wage to be no lower than $5.15 per hour. However, this new proposal by Yin and Gierau would have set Wyoming wage standards to be no lower than the federal minimum wage.
Lawmakers have attempted to increase state wages for years on end, and the proposals continue to fail in the early legislative process. UW’s College of Business and Economics Associate Professor David Aadland clarified the state minimum wage only applies to businesses who exclusively conduct business within the state.
“General economic theory says that the government should not meddle in markets, which are generally efficient,” said Aadland.
Aadland covered multiple economic theories that propose solutions to the empirical wage raise question. Even though many economic professionals study the effects of wage increases, it still tends to be an open-ended question with more of a pro and con solution.
“So, with this first theory, by raising the minimum wage, in Wyoming or in the US as a whole, it will tend to put people out of work, and it might even cause some unemployment for the people you are trying to help,” said Aadland. “Traditional and classical economic theory says unless there is some sort of market failure or fairness issue, you shouldn’t be raising wages.”
With this specific answer rooted in economic theory, Aadland said some people argue the costs and effects of wage increases, including unemployment, are not as relevant as the benefits.
Aadland said the concept of simple fairness is the most appealing to individuals who advocate for a raise. This idea stems from the fact that many individuals do not believe it is fair for the current wage to not be set at a consistent living wage, he said. He focused on the idea that a wage below the poverty line is just not for the advancement of society.
“For a second argument for a wage increase, efficiency wage theory is a concept that basically says workers who earn a higher than goal market wage will work harder, they won’t [sleep] on the job, there will be less turn over because people value their job more. It might actually save companies money,” said Aadland.
However, he gives examples of groups of individuals, like single moms, lesser skilled workers and teenagers who may not have any job experience, who could suffer from this concept. These people would be directly impacted because most employers would not necessarily be able to hire the same number of employees. Instead, employers may choose to hire individuals with more experience and who are more efficient.
Many general economic theories believe the government should not be playing a wage determining role in economic markets. Aadland emphasized the fact that issues involving wage raises or increases are something that can not be simply answered, and could be the source of struggles within legislative processes that attempt to tackle this issue.
