by Christopher Sanchez
Daily Lobo
A citywide minimum wage hike could become law before the end of the month.
City Council President Martin Heinrich introduced the proposal to the council on Tuesday. The council will vote on the proposal during a meeting April 20.
If passed, the bill would increase the minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.75 in January 2007. The wage would then increase to $7.15 in 2008 and would eventually rise to $7.50 in 2009.
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If passed at the meeting, Mayor Martin Ch†vez would have 10 days to sign or veto the bill.
Ch†vez, who opposed a minimum wage increase in October, announced Saturday at the CÇsar Ch†vez celebration he would sign a bill to increase the city's minimum wage within the next four months.
Nothing has happened at the state or federal level, he said, which is the reason he now supports a minimum wage increase.
Heinrich said he made his proposal public Saturday morning and did not coordinate with the mayor's announcement.
Ch†vez said he doesn't support Heinrich's proposal as it stands. He said the jump to $6.75 in one year can hurt businesses.
Heinrich's draft, however, is not far from an agreement, he said.
Ch†vez said he would prefer if the bill matched Gov. Bill Richardson's statewide proposal in this year's Legislature.
Richardson's proposal, which failed to pass before the session ended, would have increased the minimum wage statewide to $6.50 in January, to $7 in 2008 and $7.50 in 2009.
If the bill is enacted in the city, Ch†vez said he intends to take it to Santa Fe.
This is the city's second minimum wage increase proposal in the last six months. In October, voters rejected a proposal to increase the city's minimum wage to $7.50.
Heinrich said his proposal is cleaner and simpler than the last one.
"There are not a lot of exemptions or complicated language," he said. "It's a straightforward proposal."
Student Janet Aragon said she has held a job at minimum wage, and it is not enough money.
"I was unhappy, because it's a lot of work for $5.15 an hour," Aragon said. "A lot of the money was spent on gas to get to and from work."
The wage hike is viable because it increases in increments, she said.
"It won't give businesses such a shock," she said.
Heinrich said he is confident the City Council and the mayor will pass the bill.
"I think we've got a pretty good chance to get this done," he said.
If the bill does not pass, he expects to see a petition drive to get it on the ballot this fall, he said.
City Councilor Craig Loy said he didn't support the wage increase in October or the statewide increase early this year, and he hasn't changed his mind.
Loy said a wage increase would hurt senior citizens who are receiving Social Security.
While minimum wage increases, so will prices, he said, but Social Security will not go up.
"Just because the city raises the wage, it doesn't mean the federal government is going to raise Social Security," he said.
Loy said the increase is a wonderful theory, but it does more harm than help.
"It's the wrong thing to do," he said. "$6.75 cannot support you. Let's make it $15, but it still hurts everyone."
Student Vince Metzger said he is against a minimum wage increase.
"Most of my peers think it's a good idea, but it doesn't have a really good impact on the community," he said.
Metzger said it sounds like a good plan, but it would only make problems worse.
"I'm in favor of the aim, but I don't think a minimum wage increase will improve the life of high schoolers, which many of them have these jobs," he said.
