skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Push for Higher Minimum Wage Continues

play audio
Play

Friday, January 5, 2018   

LANSING, Mich. – Michigan rang in 2018 with a 35-cent hike to the minimum wage, but some say that doesn't go far enough and want voters to have the final word. This week marked the last of three scheduled increases under a law passed in 2014, taking the state's minimum wage to $9.25 an hour.

The group Michigan One Fair Wage is circulating petitions to put a measure on the November ballot to raise it to $12 an hour by 2022.

Alicia Renee Farris chairs the campaign and says the state's current wage still puts the basics of the American dream out of reach.

"Safe and affordable housing, childcare, food prices are escalating; gasoline prices fluctuate," she says. "People should have enough money to purchase a home, to purchase a car."

Critics of a higher minimum wage say it would hurt small businesses, driving up prices and cutting employment. But supporters say it would help lift people out of poverty and reduce the need for state subsidies. The group has until May to obtain enough valid signatures to put the measure on the November ballot.

Farris says her group believes phasing in a higher wage over the course of four years would give employers a chance to adapt their business models - which she says is necessary, given the increasing role of technology.

"Do you want to continue to balance your books on the backs of vulnerable populations, or do you want to help to increase the tax base throughout Michigan?" she asks? "Typically, when people have more spendable income, they spend - and so, that's better for businesses all around."

Michigan is one of 18 states to raise its minimum wage this year. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 hasn't changed since 2009.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021