The Plan to Raise the Minimum Wage in Ohio Takes Step Forward

Supporters of a higher minimum wage in Ohio haven’t waited long to move forward with a proposed constitutional amendment that was rejected two weeks ago.

The group pushing to put the question before voters must clear the Ohio Ballot Board, which will decide if it contains just a single constitutional amendment or multiple amendments. The board will meet Nov. 7 to consider the proposal, according to Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

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Local Minnesota Restaurant Adding ‘Equity’ Charge to Customer’s Bills

A Minneapolis restaurant, Broders Pasta Bar, is now adding an ‘equity’ charge to all checks. Broders official statement regarding the new charge says that, “Studies have also shown that there is inequity and built-in bias in the way consumers give tips. In general, Black or Brown servers receive less tips than Caucasian servers. There is gender bias as well.”

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Bernie Sanders’ Misguided ‘Stop BEZOS’ Bill Would Backfire on Workers

by Amanda Snell and David Kreutzer   No single company gets perhaps as much attention in the news as Amazon. The online retailing giant has surpassed $1 trillion in market value and is now searching for a city to place its second headquarters. Amazon has done enormous good in making Americans’ lives more convenient. But not everyone is a fan. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has introduced a bill targeting Amazon and its founding CEO, Jeff Bezos. Appropriately labeled the Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies Act (Stop BEZOS), this bill is an unabashed attack on Bezos and his immensely successful company. Stop BEZOS is meant to incentivize large companies, like Amazon, to pay a “living wage.” Sanders defines a living wage as $15/hour. This bill would require such companies to pay taxes (dollar for dollar) on the amount of government assistance that its employees collect. The implicit logic of the Stop BEZOS Act is that Amazon pays its employees subsistence wages (just enough to keep them from starving). In this alternate reality, every dollar of government assistance allows Amazon to pay their employees a dollar less. Were this true, the simplest, most effective solution would be to deny any government benefits to the employees…

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Commentary: The New York Times Explains Why the Minimum Wage Should Be $0.00

by John Miltimore     One of the greatest takedowns of the minimum wage you’ll ever find comes from an unlikely place: The New York Times. There are many reasons people and politicians find the minimum wage attractive, of course. But the Times, in an editorial entitled “The Right Minimum Wage: 0.00,” skillfully rebuts each of these reasons in turn. Noting that the federal minimum wage has been frozen for some six years, the Times admits that it’s no wonder that organized labor is pressuring politicians to increase the federal minimum wage to raise the standard of living for poorer working Americans. “No wonder. But still a mistake,” the Times explains. “There’s a virtual consensus among economists that the minimum wage is an idea whose time has passed.” But why has the idea “passed”? Why would raising the minimum wage not help the working poor? “Raising the minimum wage by a substantial amount would price working poor people out of the job market,” the editors explain. But wouldn’t the minimum wage increase the purchasing power of low-income Americans? Wouldn’t a meaningful increase allow a single breadwinner to support a family of three and actually be above the official U.S. poverty line? Ideally, yes. But there are…

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