2005 Senate Bill 320 (Prohibit employment for less than specified wage )

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Introduced by Sen. Michael Prusi (D) on March 17, 2005, to make it unlawful to pay less than $5.90 an hour to an hourly employee beginning July 1, 2005, less than $6.65 beginning Jan. 1, 2006, and less than $7.15 beginning Jan. 1, 2007, notwithstanding any voluntary agreement between the employer and employee. Also, to index this amount to inflation beginning Jan. 1, 2008. The current minimum wage level required for hourly employees is $5.15 an hour.
- Referred to the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on March 17, 2005.

Most Recent Comments

1) Minimum Wage Laws [by Mike Hignite on March 24, 2005]
I cannot believe that belief in minimum wage laws still exists. Michael must have gone to public schools to not know that minimum wage laws CAUSE unemployment. Unskilled workers are priced out of the market by minimum wage laws. Minimum wage laws distort of our economy, encourage mal-investment, boom & bust cycles, and unemployment of the very people the law aims to help.

A quick illustration. I have a job for which I am willing to pay an unskilled worker, Bob, $3 an hour.

Case 1: I offer too little $. Bob will not work for $3. Minimum wage law of $6.75 is meaningless. Michael can be happy and pass it, and no one cares.

Case 2: Bob is WILLING TO WORK for $3. Bob learns a job, earn $3 an hour more than he was making, I get a job done. Everyone happy except Michael who in his infinite wisdom knows that the correct wage should be $6.75 (the man must be brilliant!). Michael's law dies. Freedom rules!

Case 3: Michael's law passes. Enter the socialist state. I am not allowed to WILLINGLY hire Bob for $3. Bob is not allowed to WILLINGLY work for $3. Bob doesn't get $3 more that he did have, nor does he learn any job skills. Being an intelligent employer, I'm not going to pay more for work than it is worth to me:
3.1 I can go overseas and pay $3, and make Yuri happy.
3.2 I can suffer by not having my job done. I'm unhappy.
3.3 I will hire skilled worker Dave who can do my $3 job and another $3.75 job as well. (This presumes that I have a $3.75 job that needs doing, and that Dave is available.) Dave and I are happy. Bob is still unhappy, because he is LEGISLATIVELY kept from working. I hope Bob doesn't despair, do drugs, go on welfare, and turn criminal. Then Dave & I would have to pay taxes for his relief, medical care and incarceration, and that would make Dave & I unhappy.

But the important thing is that Michael is happy. Yahoo.

Stop the madness.

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2) 2005 Senate Bill 320 (Prohibit employment for less than specified wage ) [by admin on January 1, 2001]
Introduced in the Senate on March 17, 2005

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