Lawmakers kill minimum pay raise in Louisiana, where one in five people live in poverty

Greg Hilburn, Shreveport Times

Louisiana's poorest workers won't get a minimum wage increase and employers won't be forced to address the pay gap for women after lawmakers killed bills to address income disparities in the state with the highest poverty rate in the United States.

State senators on the Labor Committee voted to halt Democratic New Orleans Sen. Gary Carter's bills to create a state minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour and an equal pay measure for women. Both 5-2 votes fell along party lines with all five Republicans against the measures and two Democrats in favor.

Meanwhile, the full House advanced measures to reduce unemployment benefits (House Bill 119) and repeal a child labor law requiring employers to give a meal break to teenage workers (House bill 156).

Carter, whose Senate Bill 173 would have created a state minimumum wage at $10 per hour and gradually be raised to $14 per hour, argued that people "should not be living in poverty while working full time."

But those who opposed the bill like Patrick Robinson with the Louisiana Association for Business and Industry testified that Carter's bills would create hardships on businesses, trigger job cuts, increase costs to consumers and in the case of the equal pay measure create a hostile work environment.

"It's bad policy," Robinson said. "It would make our state less competitive. It would force businesses to cut work forces."

But others who advocated for the minimum wage bill like Melissa Flournoy of Elevate Louisiana noted 34 other states have already established minimum wages higher than federal law, including northern neighbor Arkansas. Neighoring Texas and Mississippi don't have state minimum wages.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 34 states, territories and districts have minimum wages above $7.25 an hour. Georgia and Wyoming have a minimum below that. Five states have not adopted a state minimum: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. The federal minimum wage governs these seven states.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 34 states, territories and districts have minimum wages above $7.25 an hour. Georgia and Wyoming have a minimum below that. Five states have not adopted a state minimum: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. The federal minimum wage governs these seven states.

"Arkansas has an $11 minimum wage and we didn't hear stories of economic devatation in Arkansas," Flournoy said. "The Legislature continues to demonize the poor. These invisible men and women toil in back-breaking jobs."

Carter also said employers who pay what he described as "poverty wages" encourage workers to remain dependent on taxpayer assistance like Medicaid and food stamps even while working full time, placing a burden on the state budget.

"This is an opportunity for people to provide for themselves and their families," Carter said.

About one in five Louisianians live in poverty.

Louisiana women in particular face bleak circumstances on nearly every front from poverty to life expectancy to education, according to a study released earlier this year.

The WalletHub study ranked Louisiana 50th among states and the District of Columbia as best places for women, ahead of only Oklahoma.

Last spring a WalletHub study ranked Louisiana as the worst state in America for working mothers with data showing moms here are shortchanged on everything from pay to childcare.

The Louisiana House Labor Committee has already rejected a minimum wage bill in the lower chamber, ending the effort for another year.

More: Louisiana women face bleak circumstances, according to new study ranking the state 50th

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

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This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Louisiana rejects minimum wage hike, equal pay in America's poorest state

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