This week, the House Appropriations Committee heard public testimony on their supplemental budget proposal. According to the Washington Policy Center, dozens of “citizens, agency officials and non-profit leaders advocating on behalf of human service and education providers showed up to express their support for, or displeasure with, the various programs funded by the bill.”
A common complaint was for a lack of funding to (interestingly enough) cover costs associated with the burden Seattle and Tacoma’s higher minimum wages placed on care providers. Indeed, those testifying described the cost burden brought on by higher minimum wage as a “crisis.” Via the Washington Policy Center,
“Representatives for agencies providing assisted living for the elderly and developmentally disabled, as well as early learning programs, testified on the ‘crisis’ of being forced to pay workers the increased minimum wages in Seattle and Tacoma with no corresponding increase in funding from the legislature. As they pointed out, they have no way to comply with the higher wage requirements; they get all their funding from the state legislature.”
The “crisis” is exactly what nonprofits, which often operate on tight budgets, were afraid of when the $15 minimum wage law was being debated in Seattle.
This is just another example of how the far-Left’s extreme, irresponsible, and unreasonable policies serve to harm the wellbeing of our economy and, indeed, the very people liberals say will benefit.
