Panel Approves Introduction Of 2nd Minimum Wage Bill

The chairman of the Senate State Affairs Committee won introduction of a second state minimum wage increase on Monday, but John Hansen predicted there would likely be some change in the proposition’s so-called tip credit before the bill passes.

“I know there is a difference of opinion on the tip credit,” the Idaho Falls Republican said. “This may not be the last word.”

Full scale hearings could be held in a few weeks.

The measure is identical to one introduced last week by Senate Democrats.

It raises the current minimum wage 50 cents an hour to $4.75 on April 1 and $5.15 on Sept. 1, bringing it in line with the new federal minimum wage.

It also provides the same training wage of $4.25 an hour for employees under 20 years old during their first 90 days on the job.

But both Hansen’s proposition and the Democrats raise the minimum wage for tipped employees such as waiters and waitresses from $3.19 an hour to $4.25 on April 1.

In contrast, the new federal minimum wage, which took effect last October, leaves the minimum for tipped employees at $2.13 an hour unless employees do not collect enough tips to raise their hourly rate to $4.75.

In that case, the minimum would have to raised until it totals $4.75 when combined with tips.

Gov. Phil Batt said last week he would sign a minimum wage increase if it reached his desk, but he suggested a day later that the tip credit provision of the two bills now pending in the Senate was not to his liking.

The last increase in the state minimum wage was in April 1991, and it was approved in response to an increase in the federal minimum.

The Republican-dominated Legislature ignored Democratic proposal last year to raise the minimum wage by $2 an hour over four years, and organized labor was unable to muster much enthusiasm for an initiative to do the same.

State labor analysts say the increase in the federal minimum wage, which applies only to interstate commerce, affected between 8 percent and 13 percent of the work force.

They said it was impossible to predict the impact of an increase in the state minimum although it would likely be limited since many employers already pay more than the new rates because of Idaho’s relatively tight labor market.