Missoula County supports HB 284: Provide living wage, up for hearing in the House Business and Labor Committee tomorrow morning. As Missoula’s second largest county by population, Missoula County and its residents have struggled to keep up with the ever-increasing costs of housing, health care and basic needs. Increasing the minimum wage mirrors Missoula County’s own efforts, as an employer, to address the needs of our workforce as we look to hire the tireless public servants that serve our community. The current minimum wage traps people into a poverty cycle that often leaves them robbing Peter to pay Paul when it comes to monthly bills. No family should be working 40 or more hours per week and still be unable to meet their basic needs. We recognize that one universal minimum wage across the state will present challenges in small communities where a lower minimum wage might allow citizens to meet their needs. We would propose that the state consider adoption of local minimum wages set using local control where the decisions are made closest to the people. To do this, the minimum wage could be tied to the prevailing wage districts, which would provide the paraments for local governments to set a local minimum wage, avoiding a one size fits all solution. Either statewide or local, Montana’s minimum wage needs to increase to ensure that citizens have the resources they need to provide for themselves and their families.
Sent Feb. 24:
ReplyDeleteRepresentatives Olsen, Curdy and Sullivan,
Missoula County supports HB 284: Provide living wage, up for hearing in the House Business and Labor Committee tomorrow morning. As Missoula’s second largest county by population, Missoula County and its residents have struggled to keep up with the ever-increasing costs of housing, health care and basic needs. Increasing the minimum wage mirrors Missoula County’s own efforts, as an employer, to address the needs of our workforce as we look to hire the tireless public servants that serve our community. The current minimum wage traps people into a poverty cycle that often leaves them robbing Peter to pay Paul when it comes to monthly bills. No family should be working 40 or more hours per week and still be unable to meet their basic needs. We recognize that one universal minimum wage across the state will present challenges in small communities where a lower minimum wage might allow citizens to meet their needs. We would propose that the state consider adoption of local minimum wages set using local control where the decisions are made closest to the people. To do this, the minimum wage could be tied to the prevailing wage districts, which would provide the paraments for local governments to set a local minimum wage, avoiding a one size fits all solution. Either statewide or local, Montana’s minimum wage needs to increase to ensure that citizens have the resources they need to provide for themselves and their families.
Please support HB 284.