It appears that Democrats may again fight with Democrats on the issue of raising the minimum wage.
The issue isn’t whether to do it: It’s how it should be done.
The Las Cruces Sun-News is reporting this morning that the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee on Wednesday endorsed Senate President Pro Tem Ben Altamirano’s bill. But earlier in the day, the newspaper reported, Speaker of the House Ben Lujan introduced his own, different bill, setting the stage for the same collision course that derailed a wage increase a year ago.
Both bills raise the state minimum wage to $6.50 per hour in 2008 and $7.50 in 2009, but Altamirano’s bill does not include indexing that would increase the minimum wage in the future to keep up with inflation, exempts agricultural workers and keeps cities and counties from passing their own wage increases.
Lujan’s bill, on the other hand, does include inflation indexing, doesn’t exempt agricultural workers and doesn’t keep cities and counties from increasing the minimum wage beyond the level set by the state.
Altamirano told the Sun-News his bill is backed by the governor, and said he didn’t know there would be a House bill.
“I don’t know the politics of what’s happening there,” he told the newspaper, adding that he is hopeful a compromise can be reached.
Sen. Cynthia Nava, D-Las Cruces, told the Sun-News she doesn’t see why agricultural workers should be exempt, saying they are “the people most in need of this measure.” That puts her at odds with some other area Democrats who have fought hard for the exemption.
Altamirano’s bill next heads for the Senate Finance Committee, and then the full Senate. Lujan’s bill has been assigned to the House Labor and Human Resources and Business and Industry committees.