Republican Proposal to Help Both Small Businesses and Workers

This in via email:

THE ISSUE

Today, House Democrats will bring H.R. 2 to the floor, a bill that raises the federal minimum wage on small businesses. House Republicans will offer a proposal that helps American workers AND small businesses.

Many economists agree that simply raising the minimum wage forces small businesses to hire fewer workers and cut back on benefits. Larger companies can shoulder increased costs imposed by Congress by passing them on to consumers in the form of higher prices. Small and family-owned businesses often can't do the same. The result of the Democrat plan is these small businesses - which are responsible for approximately two-thirds of American job growth - will suffer, as will their employees and the workers they can't afford to hire.

Ranking Republican on the House Education & Labor Committee Howard P. "Buck" McKeon (R-CA) said yesterday:

"The Democrat leadership's unbalanced proposal may increase the minimum wage, but it leaves small businesses and their workers to fend for themselves. That's wrong, and we must improve their bill before we send it to President Bush."

THE REPUBLICAN RESPONSE

House Republicans will offer a motion-to-recommit that not only increases the minimum wage, but expands access to affordable health care, and protects small businesses and their workers. Just like the Democrat plan, the Republican proposal will increase the current federal minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour over two years. But Republicans go a step further by significantly expanding access to health coverage for uninsured families across the country by creating Small Business Health Plans.

It is estimated that more than 60 percent of American workers who lack health coverage work for or depend on small employers who can't provide health benefits for their workers. The Republican proposal would enable small businesses to offer their employees the same benefits large corporations and unions can offer. 36 House Democrats supported this plan in the last Congress.

The Republican proposal also offers tax relief for small businesses that would offset costs associated with a higher federal minimum wage. Nobody benefits if workers are laid off or can't get a job because Washington increased the cost of doing business. The goal is help both the workers who earn the minimum wage and the people who pay it.

Ranking Republican on the House Ways & Means Committee Jim McCrery (R-LA) said yesterday:

"As we go forward, I hope that this Republican alternative may serve as a model for how we can increase the minimum wage while protecting small businesses, as President Bush and Senate Minority Leader Reid have indicated they would support."

I'm not a fan of increasing the minimum wage...it's bad for business and the consumers; there is no getting around it.