Minneapolis prepares to set minimum wage

Minneapolis City Council members are on the verge of proposing a citywide minimum wage. But one key question is how much that wage should be.

A city report released earlier this week offers a range of between $12.49 and $15 an hour, although it doesn't recommend a specific amount. The report includes public feedback and data from a 2016 study by the Roy Wilkins Institute.

Workers rights advocates have made repeated visits to City Hall calling for $15 an hour.

"It will help me a lot," said Christina Cortez, who has three children and works part time at US Bank Stadium. Cortez makes $13.50 an hour, but said she doesn't get enough hours to keep up with her bills.

"Right now, my electricity bill is $148. I have no clue where I'm going come up with that to pay that," Cortez said.

Deputy city coordinator Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde said research shows that higher pay directly benefits low-wage hourly workers like Cortez. However, Rivera-Vandermyde said it's harder to tell how a wage hike will impact the whole city economy. She studies done of other cities who've raised their minimum wages are inconclusive.

"I wish I had something better to say on that end. But the reality is that most jurisdictions — 82 percent of the jurisdictions — had only implemented a change in wage in the last two years," said Rivera-Vandermyde. "That means there just hasn't been time enough to study the impacts of what a minimum wage policy is going to do to them."

She added that it's unclear whether the prosperity that's occurred in Seattle following its passage of a $15 an hour minimum wage is the result of the wage hike or the byproduct of a generally strong regional economy.

Some members of business groups who responded to surveys included in the report are worried about a boost to the minimum wage. More than 60 percent of survey respondents from the Southwest Business Association said a $15 an hour minimum wage would have a "very negative impact" on their businesses.

Council member Cam Gordon said while it may be new for a Minnesota city or region to raise its minimum wage, the state of Minnesota did it more than 30 years ago when neighboring states did not.

"And it seems to me, just thinking back, it didn't have these rippling negative impacts on our economy. We didn't see enormous job loss," Gordon said. "We didn't see businesses closing down and rushing off to the Dakotas or anything."

Council members will have a few other issues to consider as they move toward establishing a citywide minimum wage. They will have to decide how the minimum wage will apply to workers who earn tips, like restaurant servers and bartenders. And council members will also have to consider if young workers who earn training wages will be eligible for the higher minimum wage.

Council vice president Elizabeth Glidden said she's considering all these and other factors before she will add her name to an ordinance proposal that includes a dollar amount. That ordinance should be presented in front of the full council Friday.