Opponents rail against GOP minimum wage legislation

Dozens of Iowans rotated in and out of the old Iowa Supreme Court Chamber on Monday evening to rail against pending legislation that would forbid cities and counties from setting their own minimum wages.

In addition to immediately rolling back minimum wage increases approved in Polk, Johnson, Wapello and Linn counties, House File 295 would ban future local wage hikes and significantly scale back the authority of local governments. The legislation, pushed by Republicans in the Iowa House of Representatives, was the subject of a 90-minute public hearing Monday. 

While several business owners and business groups spoke in favor of the proposed changes, most who took the microphone for three-minute increments staunchly objected to the sweeping changes contained in the bill.

Watch replay of public hearing here. 

Patrick Stall, a representative of the Democratic Socialists of America who said he's worked numerous minimum wage jobs, said the legislation was a naked attempt at lowering wages on behalf of business interests.

"This bill is a hypocritical demonstrations of Republicans’ willingness to lie, politick and cheat their way into serving their corporate cronies," said Stall, who said he now drives a catering truck. "You don’t care about local control or local government. You care about the interests of the employers over the workers."

The bill would bar cities and counties from regulating paid family leave, sick-time pay and other labor issues. It also would ban municipalities from implementing plastic bag bans or soda taxes. The legislation was authored by Rep. Jake Highfill, R-Johnston, who argued that such regulations are the purview of state government, not city councils and county supervisors.

"These people are taking food out of the mouths of working Iowans," Stall said. "We are in a class war and right now the rich and their scumbag Republican friends are winning."

'Right now, it's like the Wild West'

In October 2016, the Polk County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 to approve a series of minimum wage hikes, which would reach $10.75 per hour by 2019. Supervisor Tom Hockensmith told legislators Monday that Polk's minimum wage task force examined the issue carefully for months. Many workers, advocates and business leaders were heard and supervisors were most often criticized for not raising the wage even higher, he said.

"It wasn’t just done willy-nilly," Hockensmith said. "We had a process we worked through and engaged the community."

Yet, business interests continued to argue Monday that employers need uniformity in regulations across the state. The Iowa Association of Realtors, the Iowa Association of Business and Industry and the Iowa Grocery Industry Association are backing the bill. Opposing the effort are labor advocates, the Iowa Association of Counties, the Iowa League of Cities, the Linn County Board of Supervisors and the City of Des Moines.

Mike Holms, marketing director for the metro's six Jethro's BBQ restaurants and downtown's Splash Seafood Bar & Grill, said his restaurants pay all workers well above the current $7.25 hourly minimum wage. But a patchwork of minimum wage rules across the state makes it hard to grow, he said.

"Right now, it’s like the Wild West. Every one of Iowa’s 99 counties can set their own wage standard," he said. "And in that county, every city can set its own wage standard as well. Trying to grow a business is nearly impossible with that level of uncertainty.”

For instance, he said, the chain declined to expand to Iowa City because of Johnson County's minimum wage increase there. Rather, it chose to pursue putting its newest restaurant in Ames.

Jessica Dunker, executive director of the Iowa Restaurant Association, said Iowa restaurateurs will entertain a debate on raising the statewide minimum wage, so long as it's with state legislators and not local city councils or county supervisors.

"We will come to the table, but it needs to be one table, not 99 or more," she said. "We see this bill as the mechanism that simply clarifies who we discuss wage and other employment issues with, not what they should be."

As originally authored, the bill would have amended the Iowa Civil Rights Act of 1965, forbidding cities and counties from enacting any local civil rights protections that exceed what's already in state code. A proposed amendment to the bill is more narrow — it would wipe away source of income civil rights protections in certain Iowa cities, which advocates fear could harm veterans and the elderly.

A representative of the Greater Iowa Apartment Association was among the small group of those speaking in favor of the bill Monday because of that provision, he said.

'I ask you to not steal'

Several faith leaders implored members of the House Local Government committee to have compassion on low-wage workers.

Rev. David Sickelka, senior pastor at the Urbandale United Church of Christ, said members of his church generously and tirelessly serve the poor through efforts like food pantries and clothing drives.

"But I have to tell you that in recent years I kind of feel like we’re being played," he said. "I feel like the more that we help people, the less their employers feel they need to pay them."

Sickelka said society can't leave it to employers to alleviate poverty; they need public policy to do that. And he said local wage ordinances are important because legislators are unable to pass a meaningful minimum wage hike that makes equal sense for Des Moines, Dubuque and De Soto.

"There is something fundamentally wrong with the system when somebody works all day moving pallets of food onto a semitruck and then goes home and can’t put a plate of food on the table for their children," he said. "There is something wrong when somebody makes beds all day long and sleeps in a car at night."

The Rev. Debbie Griffin, pastor of Downtown Disciples, said she was "shocked and appalled" that lawmakers would take away promised and actual wage increases in the four counties to approve such measures. She said she's watched many rural and urban Iowans lose their dignity and honor as they work full-time, yet remain unable to provide food for their families.

"I ask you to not steal from them," Griffin said. "… I ask you on behalf of my parishioners, my neighbors and my God to reject HF295."

Charlie Wishman, secretary-treasurer of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO, said passage of the bill would represent the "lowest, most despicable thing that has ever happened in this beautiful building."

"It is unimaginable that this Legislature of the great state of Iowa will be voting to lower the wages of its own citizens," he said. "Iowa is better than this."

Josh Myatt, a member of Iowa State Student Action, told legislators that as a child, his parents struggled to get by earning low wages working long days and nights.

"Republicans claim to support small government. How is taking the ability of raising minimum wage to a living wage from counties and cities supporting small government?" he said. "Republicans also claim to support Iowans. I’m just trying to figure out which Iowans they are supporting."

There is no floor vote scheduled for the bill.