Let Justice Roll

Increase sought for state minimum wage

By Tim Carpenter
Topeka Capital-Journal (KS), 7/25/07

The tiny snack bag distributed Tuesday on the Statehouse lawn went to the nut of the problem.

Representatives of Kansas Action Network, a coalition of 30 organizations promoting their brand of social justice and economic fairness, handed out bags of peanuts containing a note denouncing the state's minimum wage, which is the lowest in the nation. Each card declared: "$2.65 per hour is PEANUTS!"

Heidi Zeller, organizer of Kansas Action Network's Raise the Wage project, speaks Tuesday on the south steps of the Capitol. Zeller said it is important to work on a citywide level to raise support for increasing the minimum wage in Kansas.

WAGE COMPARISON

The U.S. minimum wage increased Tuesday by 70 cents to $5.85 an hour. Thirty states have minimums higher than the federal. Kansas' rate is the lowest in the nation.

Kansas, $2.65

Colorado, $6.85

Nebraska, $5.15

Missouri, $6.50

Oklahoma, $5.15

Coalition president Carla James said the group's objective was to convince the Legislature to pass a bill tying the state's minimum wage to the new federal rate of $5.85 per hour. Coalition activists also will pressure politicians in the urban centers of Topeka, Wichita and Kansas City, Kan., to adopt citywide minimum wages.

The group announced its campaign on the same day the federal minimum wage jumped to $5.85 from $5.15. It was the first of three increases that will push the wage to $7.25 an hour in two years.

While more than 100,000 Kansans received a raise Tuesday in conjunction with the national change, an estimated 19,000 Kansas workers not covered by federal law remain at the state wage of $2.65.

"Now it's time for Kansas to catch up," James said. "The Kansas minimum wage is a poverty wage."

The Republican majority in the House defeated in the 2007 session a move by Democrats to raise the state's minimum wage to $5.15 an hour. GOP House members argued increases undermined small businesses, while advocates claimed it helped low-income workers.

"This is just a feel-good piece," said Rep. Kasha Kelley, R-Arkansas City, during the House debate.

The minimum wage in Kansas hasn't changed in nearly 20 years. In this time, James said, the Legislature raised its own compensation 29 percent.

Five states — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee — have no minimum wage. Thirty states have minimums trumping the federal rate. Twenty states, including Kansas, were affected by Tuesday's hike.

Heidi Zeller, organizer of the coalition's Raise the Wage project, said the Kansas minimum wage was insufficient to lift families out of poverty. A person working full-time at $2.65 an hour earns less than $6,000 annually, she said.

"That's unacceptable," she said. "A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you poor."

Tim Carpenter can be reached at (785) 295-1158 or timothy.carpenter@cjonline.com.

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