Democrats' Minimum Wage Opportunity

More "red" state progressive populism, this time in New Mexico, where the Albuquerque Tribune reports that City Councilor Martin Heinrich has introduced a proposal to raise his city's minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.15 an hour. The bill "was created with small businesses in mind, exempting those with fewer than 10 employees and giving credits to those that pay for health care." Heinrich notes "the increase would bring the pay of a single mother with two children from just below the poverty level under current minimum wage laws to just above it."

Henrich has a compelling case. As he notes, the nonpartisan Fiscal Policy Institute reports that since 1997, places that have boosted their minimum wage have created jobs faster than those stuck at the lower federal level. And, in case anyone says his proposal is "anti-business," Heinrich points out that states with higher minimum wage levels saw over 300% more growth in the retail sector than those states that remain at the federal minimum wage. He also notes that "during the first six months of Santa Fe's increased minimum wage, the city has experienced a 5.7% increase in the retail sector, significantly outpacing inflation." It makes sense - when middle-class families have more money in their pocket, they spend it on necessities, boosting the economy.

This proposal stands in stark contrast to the one that Republicans tried to ram down America's throats in March. Then, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) actually proposed eliminating all minimum wage protections for almost 7 million workers. But that wasn't really a surprise now was it? After all, he is the same Senator who said that "making people struggle a little bit is not necessarily the worst thing."

Heinrich's proposal is exactly the kind of legislation that progressives should be pushing at the state and local level. Its good policy, and its good politics, as it draws a sharp distinction between Democrats as the party of the middle-class, and Republicans as the party of fat cats.