New Orleans Democrat Senator Troy Carter has filed a bill to raise the state minimum hourly wage to $9.50 for businesses with more than 50 employees by August 2019. 18 states started the year with increased wages and an additional 19 states adopted higher wages in 2017. Carter says in light of WalMart’s recent announcement of employee bonuses and Target raising their minimum wage, it’s time for Louisiana to step up.
Carter’s push to raise the wage in prior sessions have failed and he’s urging lawmakers to ask themselves one simple question.
Louisiana has never had a state minimum wage and business groups have been successful in the past to squash the idea. Dawn Starns with the Louisiana National Federation of Independent Businesses says to look at the example of other cities and states that have adopted higher minimum wages. It has only hurt their economy.
Starns says raising the minimum wage is not enough to help the working poor and the legislature needs to focus more on programs that will truly change their lives for the better.