New Iowa Minimum Wage Takes Effect: Workers Receive Pay Increase Sunday; Other Policy Options Also Could Help
By the Iowa Policy Project
On Sunday, Iowa becomes the 29th state with a state minimum wage higher than the federal level.
“This
increase is long overdue for low-income families in Iowa,” said David
Osterberg, executive director of the nonpartisan Iowa Policy Project.
“The wage has remained at $5.15 for almost 10 years — and remains there
at the federal level.
“Iowa lawmakers and the governor have
given low-wage workers a chance to make ends meet. As our research has
shown, Iowa’s new minimum wage will ultimately help 257,000 workers and
their families build better lives.”
The law passed this year in
the Legislature and signed by Gov. Chet Culver increases the wage by
$2.10 in two steps, to $6.20 on Sunday, and to $7.25 on Jan. 1, 2008.
“We
kept hearing that Iowa should wait for Congress to act,” Osterberg
said. “Well, we’re still waiting for Congress and we still don’t know
when the federal law will change.”
Iowa joins Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri among states with a minimum wage above the federal $5.15.
IPP Research Associate Elaine Ditsler noted other state policies “could help families cope with higher costs of living.”
“First among them is an expansion of the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit,” she said.
In
Iowa, 168,000 households benefit from the federal Earned Income Tax
Credit (EITC), but almost half do not claim the state credit, which is
6.5 percent of the federal. The federal credit, unlike the state
credit, is refundable and provides the full benefit of the credit to
taxpayers who qualify. Filers receive a check for the balance if their
tax obligation is not as big as the federal credit, but not for the
state credit.
“Making the state credit refundable would reach
more families,” Ditsler said, noting there are proposals in the House
and Senate for an expanded and refundable state EITC.
The Iowa Policy Project (IPP) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and policy analysis organization based in Mount Vernon.
See the July 2006 IPP report, “A Pay Raise for Iowa? Falling Behind at the Minimum Wage.” Other IPP reports about the minimum wage and the EITC are available at the IPP website http://www.iowapolicyproject.org.
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Saturday, March 31
New Iowa Minimum Wage Takes Effect: Workers Receive Pay Increase Sunday; Other Policy Options Also Could Help
by
Sam Garchik
on Sat 31 Mar 2007 06:08 PM CDT
Monday, March 26
Urgent Action Needed - Call on VOICE Monday, March 26th!
by
Caroline Vernon
on Mon 26 Mar 2007 12:33 AM CDT
Urgent Action Needed - Call on VOICE - Monday, March 26th!
From Progressive Action for the Common Good
As many of you may know, PACG has put out many calls to action on VOICE - Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections. The passage of VOICE - SF 553 , in the state of Iowa would have a HUGE impact
on every issue across the spectrum - the passage of this bill
would give the people of Iowa an unprecedented opportunity to take back
control of our legislature from the special interest groups that have
too often dominated the outcome of policy. There are MANY reasons to
pass VOICE - passage of this bill would free-up our legislators
from the all consuming cycle of fundraising so they can spend more
time working on the actual issues that affect their
constituents, and citizens would have more faith in the system and
the legislators that represent them. Legislators would no longer be
beholden to the special interests that help get them elected. In other
states where similar bills were passed, they are seeing a big increase
in people running for office than ever before and in Arizona
voter turnout has increased by as much as 20%. The passage of
VOICE is a win-win for everyone involved... that's why WE NEED YOUR HELP NOW.
The VOICE
bill, SF 553, is in an Appropriations sub-committee comprised of
Rep. Dave Jacoby (D-chair), Rep. Jo Oldson (D) and Rep. Dwayne Alons
(R). It will come up for a vote in that committee
either Tuesday (3/27) or Wednesday (3/28). If passed, it
then goes to the full committee and becomes "funnel-proof." That
means the likelihood for debate on the floor of the House
increases. However, we learned on Friday that the Appropriations
sub-committee plans to "kill" the bill, at the request of
leadership.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
PLEASE make a push to call the committee members and the leadership on MONDAY,
urging them to support SF 553. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is a firm
supporter of the bill so please call him, thank him for his
support and urge him to continue pushing for passage of the bill.
MOST IMPORTANTLY - contact Senator Mike Gronstal in the Senate and Speaker Pat Murphy in the House - urging them to support passage of the bill. We need to make a VERY BIG PUSH in order to make a difference.
VOICE has overwhelming support from citizens and community leaders - we need to remind leadership that people matter more, money matters less.
PLEASE call the Appropriations Sub-Committee members and House & Senate Leaders on MONDAY! - These
are only 6 telephone calls that will take up very little of your time
-- the small effort required on our part can make a BIG difference for
the future of our state! Please refer to the Word document (see
attachment) that outlines the general information and primary
benefits of the bill, SF 553.
Appropriations Sub-Committee Rep. Dave Jacoby (D) House District 30 -- Johnson County David.Jacoby@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: 319-358-8538 House Switchboard: (515) 281-3221
Rep. Jo Oldson (D) House District 61 -- Polk County Jo.Oldson@legis.state.ia.us
Home Telephone: 515-255-2805 House Switchboard: (515) 281-3221
Rod Roberts (R) Rod.Roberts@legis.state.ia.us House Switchboard: (515) 281-3221. Speaker of the HouseRep. Pat Murphy (D)
House District 28 – Dubuque County Pat.Murphy@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: (563) 582-5922 House Telephone: (515) 281-5566 House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D) House District 67 – Polk County Kevin.McCarthy@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: (515) 953-5221 House Telephone: (515) 281-7497 (PLEASE THANK HIM FOR HIS SUPPORT!) Senate Majority Leader Senator Mike Gronstal (D) Senate District 50 -- Pottawattamie michael.gronstal@legis.state.ia.us Home Telephone: (712) 328-2808 Business Telephone: (515) 281-3901 Take action! Call, your local legislator today! Find out where they stand on the bill, urge them to support it and ask them to urge leadership and committee members to do the same! It's not enough to simply ask them if they support the bill --- if they do, ask them what they are doing to ensure passage of this bill. House Switchboard to reach all State Representatives: (515) 281-3221
THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!
PACG Staff
James Lee 563-650-3922
Caroline Vernon 563-676-7580
 1 AttachmentsSunday, March 18
Iowa's Minimum Wage Increase and the EITC
by
Sam Garchik
on Sun 18 Mar 2007 07:37 AM CDT
Iowa's Minimum Wage Increase
By Mike Owen, IPP Iowa lawmakers earlier this year passed a minimum wage increase, the first phase of which will take effect in about two weeks. Many also have supported an expansion of Iowa’s Earned Income Tax Credit, another public policy initiative designed to “make work pay.” Iowa’s EITC — 6.5 percent of the federal EITC — is quite small in comparison to those enacted in other states, and has far less participation among low-income tax filers than the federal credit. One reason is that unlike the federal EITC, the state EITC is not refundable, so not as many taxpayers would benefit from it. There are many alternatives being considered on this issue. We have prepared two two-page backgrounders that may help you in your coverage and/or commentary. Links to those pieces are below and on our IFP website <http://www.iowafiscal.org>, or we could send PDF files directly to you for either or both if you prefer. Please contact us if you need more information. Next Piece of the Puzzle After Minimum Wage, Iowa Looks at Earned Income Tax Credit How the EITC Hits Home Impact of EITC by state legislative district (table and map) Mike Owen Iowa Fiscal Partnership news@iowafiscal.org http://www.iowafiscal.org Assistant Director The Iowa Policy Project 120 N Dubuque St. #208 Iowa City, IA 52245 (319) 338-0773 ipp@Lcom.net http://www.iowapolicyproject.org |
Iowa Sites Child & Family Policy Center - Iowa Genetic Engineering Action Network Iowa Citizen Action Network - ICAN Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility Iowa Public Interest Research Group Midwest Environmental Justice Advocates Progressive Action for the Common Good Progressive Coalition of Central Iowa QCAD (Quad-Citians Affirming Diversity - GLBT) Iowa Blogs The Deprogrammer (Quad Cities) Iowa True Blue (Gordon Fischer's Blog) Iowa Voters for Open and Transparent Elections Political FalloutFight Iowa Rapid Response Network - Iowa
Iowans for Better Local TV
Air America
The Counterpoint
National FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Media Matters for America
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