by Mike Hall, May 23, 2006

Hey you. Here’s a buck. Now go away, you bother me!

That’s what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-Calif.) seems to be saying.

He’s proposing a $1-an-hour increase in the state’s minimum wage. But what he really wants to do is head off bills in the Legislature that not only would increase the state’s minimum wage from its current $6.75 an hour but also would protect it from losing its value to inflation by tying it to the cost of living (a move known as “indexing”).

The guv knows the Democratic-controlled Legislature won’t abandon the indexing provision. So he’s seeking approval for his little increase from a state commission that’s been out of commission, with no money to operate, since it was defunded in 2004.

The Industrial Welfare Commission lost its funding, says Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D), “for the express reason that it had failed to review the minimum wage as required by law.”

Arnold—who vetoed minimum wage bills in 2004 and 2005—says his motives are pure. He just wants to give low-wage workers a raise.

But you’ve got a governor who vetoed two minimum wage raises and whose hand-picked members of a commission charged with reviewing the minimum wage didn’t. And he’s asking voters to believe he’s a changed man.

Meanwhile, activists are mobilizing to raise the wage through legislation or ballot initiatives in more than 20 states. The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $5.15 an hour since 1997. While opponents claim raising the minim wage hurts the economy and reduces jobs, recent studies show those claims are wrong.

At the federal level, House Democrats are moving to bring to the floor a minimum wage bill that Republican leaders repeatedly have blocked. The legislation (H.R. 2429),
introduced by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), would raise the rate to $7.25 an hour over two years. Because the bill has been blocked, backers need a “discharge petition” to move it to the floor, which requires the signatures of 218 House members.

Click here to urge your representative to sign the petition.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) has introduced the Senate version (S. 1062) of the minimum wage increase. Click here to become a citizen co-sponsor. 

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