Editorial: A bill with baggage

Friday, Aug. 4, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.

T he minimum wage measure recently passed by the House could have grave implications for a Nevada ballot initiative that seeks to raise the state's minimum wage.

The House bill passed last week would raise the federal minimum wage from its current $5.15 an hour to $7.25 an hour by 2009. The bill also seeks to substantially cut the estate taxes of the wealthiest Americans by 2010 and, because of that proposed cut, it likely will not survive a Senate vote next week.

Lashing a much-needed increase for the nation's lowest-paid workers to a tax cut that would cost the government nearly $300 billion has been a bad idea from the start.

But the Republican-backed House measure would be even worse for Nevada, as it would override states' abilities to raise the minimum wage paid to tip-earners. Federal law currently allows employers to pay tip-earners, such as waiters, as little as $2.13 an hour. The rest is to be made up in tips.

According to a story by the Las Vegas Sun, Nevada and six other states have laws that supersede the federal mandates and set the minimum wage at $5.15 an hour for those who earn tips. But the House measure would allow employers to lower the minimum wage for tip-earners in states with laws that raise the tip-earner minimums to an amount above the federal limit.

That would effectively negate a November ballot initiative in which Nevada voters will decide whether to set the minimum wage for Nevada tip-earners at $1 above the federal minimum. That could end up hurting low-wage earners in a state that is dependent on service industry jobs, many of which are tip-oriented.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, of Nevada, has derided the GOP-backed House measure and its tip provision, citing the potential pitfall for some 60,000 Nevada workers.

The minimum wage hasn't been raised in 10 years, and at its current rate amounts to an annual salary of only $10,712. Few, if any, Republican House members could imagine living on so little. And, as evidenced by the baggage they have attached to this farcical bill, they also can't imagine supporting a true and independent minimum wage increase.