A battle over which minimum wage increase to adopt in Las Cruces is over. For now.
The city council decided to allow the first increase in the ordinance to go forward. This will increase the minimum wage in Las Cruces’ city limits to $8.40 per hour on January 1, 2015.
However, the city council may take another look at the minimum wage hike before the second increase goes into effect on January 1, 2016.
The proposal that won out was one pushed by CAFé, which collected thousands of signatures in support of the eventual increase to $10.10 per hour.
From the Las Cruces Sun-News:
The plan means that the first of three phases for the ordinance, passed in September by the City Council, will be implemented at the turn of the year. The minimum wage will increase to $8.40 per hour — 90 cents more than it is now — within the city limits.As part of that proposal, the council also is likely to scrap its first minimum wage ordinance, which would have raised the minimum wage rate in the city to $8.50 by 2016. A first reading of that repeal would take place Nov. 17 with a final vote by councilors slated Dec. 1, according to City Manager Robert Garza.
It is the latest in a long line of arguments over how much — not if — the minimum wage should be increased. And with the city council saying they may revisit the issue, it likely isn’t the end of the string.
“We are pleased with the outcome to repeal the June ordinance and move forward to implement our $10.10 law effective January 1st,” Sarah Nolan, CAFé’s Executive Director, said in a statement. “However this is only the first step and we will remain vigilant to preserve the law. The Mayor made it clear that the next two increments improving wages for our hardworking individuals and families are still in jeopardy.”
The Las Cruces city council had voted to increase the minimum wage to $8.50 per hour by January of 2016. However, an effort to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour by 2017 was int eh process of getting signatures.
The group collected enough signatures to place it on the ballot, but it first had to go in front of the city council. Instead of placing it on the ballot, the Las Cruces city council voted to adopt the proposal.
Then it got confusing. There were two competing minimum wage increases on the books in Las Cruces. The city council spoke about amending the $10.10 minimum wage proposal — a proposal which the council had already approved — over concerns the increase was too high.
The council wondered if it could keep both proposals, if it would have to scrap one proposal or if there would be a third “compromise” proposal to put into effect. CAFé said that not adopting the $10.10 per hour proposal would send the message to voters who signed the petitions that their views didn’t matter.
The cities of Albuquerque and Santa Fe already have minimum wages higher than the state’s $7.50 minimum wage. The city of Albuquerque’s minimum wage was raised through a ballot initiative.
Both cities’ minimum wages are tied to inflation, so they will increase as inflation rises. The Las Cruces increase also ties the minimum wage to inflation.
Santa Fe and Bernalillo counties also have minimum wages higher than the statewide minimum wage. They followed suit after the largest cities in their counties (Santa Fe and Albuquerque) raised the minimum wage.
Efforts to increase the minimum wage statewide in New Mexico have failed in recent years. In 2013, Gov. Susana Martinez vetoed legislation to raise the statewide minimum wage to $8.50 per hour. Martinez did not put a minimum wage increase on the call for this year’s legislative session.
Martinez did say, however, after the session ended that she supported a minimum wage increase to $8.00 per hour to be competitive with Arizona and Colorado but probably would not support tying it to inflation like each of those states have done.
President Barack Obama has proposed raising the minimum wage nationwide to $10.10 per hour. With a deadlocked Congress, including a Republican-controlled House, any significant legislation is unlikely.
