Members of the House Commerce and Energy Committee passed a bill establishing a youth minimum wage.
In the last election, South Dakotans voted to raise the state minimum wage to $8.50 cents an hour. Senate Bill 177 says that change does not apply to workers under the age of 18, and sets them a $7.50 minimum wage instead. Proponents say a higher minimum wage makes it harder for younger, unskilled workers to get jobs. Senator David Novstrup is a prime sponsor of the measure.
“As the Wall Street Journal pointed out in 2010, a higher minimum wage has the biggest impact on those with the least experience or the fewest skills,” Novstrup says. “That means in particular those looking for entry level jobs, especially teenagers. And sure enough, as nearly all economic models predict, the higher minimum has wreaked havoc with teenage job seekers, well beyond what you would expect, even in a recession.”
But opponents say a minimum wage increase has little or no effect on employment, and the statute should be left as is. Mark Anderson is with the South Dakota State Federation of Labor.
“This bill specifically is a wage cut, a wage freeze, and it’s not what’s going on in the rest of the country,” Anderson says. “The voters of South Dakota had two chances to set the minimum wage, and so I think it’s your mandate to improve on that, not to tinker with it and make the minimum wage law worse.”
The bill passed with an eleven to two vote, and now heads to the full House floor for further debate.