Democrats win on Minimum Wage -- Over 100,000 Wisconsin citizens get raises today!

There's been a lot of carping around the state about Governor Doyle compromising with legislative Republicans to move a minimum wage increase to implementation 18 months ahead of when it otherwise would have.

But this is a clear win for Democrats, and we are failing to take advantage of a big political win by shouting from the rooftops that the minimum wage is going up, and the people should thank Democrats.

The Governor clearly articulated almost a year ago that he was for having one statewide minimum wage. In the end, the Republicans caved in and granted an increase in return for the Governor offering up... that's right, one statewide minimum wage.

So it seems that rather than "caving," the Governor and legislative Democrats won everything they were looking for (immediate implementation of a higher minimum wage) and gave up nothing (since we never before seemed to care about local minimum wages).

Opposing "Pre-emption" isn't something that's ever been in the Democratic platform -- in fact, the two closest items in the Platform on the wisdems.org site are as follows: "Workers are entitled to a living wage with benefits" and "We support full equity in pay and benefits."

How that should translate to us supporting a higher wage just for Madison residents while forgetting about over 100,000 other Wisconsin residents not "fortunate" enough to reside in Madison is not really clear. For these minimum wage workers outside of Madison, the raise they are getting amounts to $2000 over the next 18 months. That's real money, for real people, and the Madison elite who are willing to say "no big deal" to that so people in one city (not even Fitchburg or DeForest or even the Town of Madison!) would get a higher wage... well, that's just wrong.

Maybe all that energy WITHIN Madison, which has progressive leadership, should be much more focused on winning seats OUTSIDE of Madison in the Legislature, so we can actually pass a higher living wage for the whole state! But time-consuming, energy-wasting Green v. Democrat City Council battles must just be so much more important.

The last point is that it has been alleged that without pre-emption, the minimum wage will never go up again. That is just false. The process to raise the minimum wage in Wisconsin, the Wage Advisory Council, will still stay in place. In fact, if the Council raises it again in 2007, at worst the Republicans might be able to block it until 2008! And that assumes, in classic "minority-status-think," that Democrats won't capture one house of the legislature (a swing of only three seats brings the Senate under Dem control, and Minnesota last year swung 13 seats in their legislature). If Democrats pick up seats, then the legislature may not be able to block an increase, and the Wage Council could send it up immediately.

We need to take wins when we get them, and take ownership and brag about it a little. We need to think like winners, and think like we're capable of governing. We can't be satisfied with permanent minority status, and craft a political strategy predicated on losing!

Below is the Gov's press release today. Savor it. We won! Over 100,000 people got a raise today! That's why we're DEMOCRATS!

Wednesday, June 1, 2005

Governor Doyle Announces Increase in Statewide Minimum Wage

JANESVILLE AND RACINE - Governor Doyle today announced that the statewide minimum wage will increase, effective today, from $5.15 to $5.70 per hour.

"It's a great day in Wisconsin because today, the minimum wage is going up," Governor Doyle said. "Combined with a similar increase next year, this will mean an extra $100 a month for minimum wage workers. For 150,000 workers all across Wisconsin, this increase means more money to pay the gas bill, buy groceries, or send a child to day care."

The statewide minimum wage increase comes more than a year after Governor Doyle's Minimum Wage Advisory Council recommended to increase the state's minimum wage. The increase was scheduled to go into effect on December 1, 2004, but in September of 2004, Republican legislators blocked the wage increase from going forward.

On May 11, 2005, the Governor directed the Department of Workforce Development to prepare an emergency rule and permanent rule to raise the minimum wage statewide to $5.70 effective June 1, 2005 and to $6.50 on June 1, 2006.

"Minimum wage workers so often work the most and earn the least," Governor Doyle said. "They struggle every day to make ends meet. I want Wisconsin to be a place where everyone who works hard and plays by the rules has the opportunity to enjoy all that our great state has to offer. By working together as state and local government, business, and labor leaders, I'm proud of what we were able to accomplish for Wisconsin's families."


Listen to Governor Doyle talk about the statewide minimum wage: http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/journal_media_file_get.asp?mrfileid=117.