By Kristen Doerer
PBS News Hour, November 7, 2016
... Colorado, Arizona and Maine have measures on the ballot that would gradually increase the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020. In Washington, the initiative would phase in a $13.50 minimum wage by 2020. South Dakota is voting on a measure that would decrease the state’s minimum wage for workers under the age of 18. ...
Despite continued opposition from some conservatives, polls show there is growing support among businesses and Republican leaders for raising the minimum wage.
Edwin Zoe, a Republican and the founder of Zoe Ma Ma, a fast-casual, homestyle Chinese restaurant located in Boulder and Denver, said he was in favor of raising Colorado’s minimum wage to $12 by 2020.
“On the micro level for me, I feel very strongly that my employees’ well-being is my business’s well-being,” Zoe said. He added, “Workers are not just an output, they’re also an input. Studies show that more money goes back to the local economy when the minimum wage is raised.”
Nationally, more than 1,000 businesses have signed a petition by the advocacy group Business for a Fair Minimum Wage in support of raising the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020. “The polling shows that small businesses are in favor of it and have been for a while,” said Bob Keener, a spokesman for the group.
A poll conducted by Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster, found that 80 percent of business executives supported an increase in their state’s minimum wage. A mere 8 percent opposed it.
Polls showing support for raising the minimum wage appear to be swaying a growing number of conservatives ...
With broadening support for minimum wage increases in cities and states, some experts said that a few more successful state ballot initiatives could put pressure on Congress to act. ...
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