Terry Cowgill

More Wisdom From Hartford

May 14, 2008 on 2:23 pm | In Main |

Thanks to all those who commented on the previous post about the failure of the state legislature to enact a ban on open containers of alcohol in the car.

I have a legislative update story coming out in tomorrow’s print edition. Neither of our representatives in Hartford, Andrew Roraback nor Roberta Willis, gives the session high marks. Andrew gave it “a C+ at best,” while Roberta (a former teacher) did not want to hurt her fellow lawmakers’ self-esteem by assigning it a grade. So she characterized the 2008 session as “in need of improvement.”

Among the highlights:

• A bill passed that would uses state resources to help victims of the subprime mortgage crisis and impose tighter restrictions on lenders. Rell is expected to sign it. Lawmakers also succeed in raising the minimum hourly wage from $7.65 to $8 starting Jan. 1, 2009, and to $8.25 beginning Jan. 1, 2010.

  Willis voted for it and Roraback against it. Roraback said he had spoken with restaurant owners who were concerned that the profitability of their businesses could be placed in jeopardy by the increase.

• Both Roraback and Willis say they are proud of legislation that would impose restrictions on “greenhouse emissions” thought to cause global warming. Rell is expected to sign the bill, which will force state agencies to meet emissions goals by 2020. Connecticut is the fifth state in the nation to adopt such legislation.

• Different versions of an ethics bill that would revoke the pensions of corrupt state officials passed in both houses. The bill had attracted attention after it was disclosed that disgraced former Gov. John Rowland and other convicted state officials were collecting full pensions. An attempt to reconcile the two bills failed on the last day of the legislative session. That means that the measure died, which both Roraback and Willis described as a disappointment.

Whenever I say this about the minimum wage, many of my friends give me looks of horror. I don’t think we need one. Willis voted for the measure even though she conceded it will have little or no effect in her district, where even burger flipping jobs are paying close to $10 an hour.

This is where my libertarian streak sets in. I don’t think the government should be in the business of setting wages — minimum or otherwise. If you aren’t being paid enough, find another employer. If you can’t find another job that pays better, then you are out of luck. The vast majority of minimum wage earners are working second jobs on a part-time basis anyway.

Roberta told me that even $10/hr is not sufficient in the NWC. She indicated at least $15/hr was needed for a full-time worker to pay rent, utilities and drive a car in this area. So, why don’t we just raise the minimum wage to that level? Because there would be fewer jobs, of course.

Isn’t it better to have more people working at lower wages than fewer working at higher wages? Look, I feel the pain of those who struggle to meet the costs of living in the NWC. I myself work three jobs in order to live here. But outside of the large cities, raising the minimum wage to $8 is just window dressing — a symbolic gesture at best.

How about making Connecticut a more attractive place in which to do business by reducing the tax and regulatory burden on new and existing business? The resulting boomlet would create jobs, increase the demand for labor and drive wages up. Imagine that!