Divisive public hearing over bill with minimum wage pre-emption provision

DES MOINES, Iowa — Lawmakers in the Iowa House will soon debate and vote on a bill that includes a provision to ban local cities and counties from setting minimum wages higher than the state's.

Restaurant owners like Darin Beck are supporting this bill, saying because they own operations in varying counties, the mix of wages has not only hurt them, but also their employees.

"In many cases, businesses literally across the street from each other find themselves in a situation where each has a different minimum wage requirement," Beck said. "It doesn't take an imagination to think of a lot of the ways this is detrimental to the business."

Beck says it creates an unfair playing field and confuses prospective employees' expectations.

"It's hard enough to compete in today's market with your competitors but imagine competing with yourself when you have businesses in multiple districts with different wage requirements," Beck said.

An overwhelming majority of Iowans, however, questioned lawmakers if they believe making $7.25 an hour is a livable wage and challenged their reasons for supporting this bill.

Jack Reareon, a resident of Clive, said this bill would be detrimental to families like his.

"I come from a low-wage family," he said. "My mom's a single mother. Since 2011, we've had to move four houses and actually an hour before I came here, I found out that our house is being sold and we have nowhere to go."

Reareon said his family can't afford to buy a home, but instead has to rent. In turn, he says, their money isn't going toward an investment.

A recent document published by the Iowa Policy Project, a liberal-leaning think tank, says "low-wage workers benefiting from a boost in the minimum wage spend their higher wages at local gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores and other retail shops."

Jessica Dunker, with the Iowa Restaurant Association, said their organization is willing to work with other industries to explore the best ways to improve workers' lives.

"We will come to the table, but it needs to be one table, not 99 or more," she said.