A higher Kansas minimum wage has passed both houses of the Kansas legislature and is waiting for the governor’s signature. Now minimum wage supporters have a duty to perform. It’s likely that as employers are required to pay their workers more, some will lose their job.
Senator Dick Kelsey, originally opposed to raising the Kansas minimum wage, asked its supporters to introduce him to someone who actually earned that low wage. He never received such an introduction.
It could be the case that everyone is already paid more than the new, higher minimum wage. If so, we wouldn’t expect to see any job loss. But if this is the case, what is the need for the law?
Higher minimum wage advocates need to be on the watch for workers who lose their jobs because of the effects of a law they agitated for. They are responsible for the plight of those who lose their job.
These unfortunate workers, unfortunate first because they don’t have skills that allow them fill jobs that pay good wages; unfortunate again in their role as sacrificial lambs for those who see social injustice through the fog of social liberalism; unfortunate again to lose their jobs during a recession — what are they to do?
Will the newspaper editorialists who supported the minimum wage seek out these people?
Will newspaper and television reporters feature their stories? It’s easy for reporters to find the workers who will be paid more when the new wage takes effect. Finding the newly jobless is more difficult. But their story is more important.
The unions who supported the higher minimum wage: will they help the newly jobless?
More background is at Kansas Minimum Wage and Kansas Minimum Wage At Issue Again.
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