PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Libertarian Party opposes referendum on minimum wage hikes
by News Release
For Immediate Release
November 19, 2007
For more information contact:
Doug Leard (Media Relations) or
Michael Robertson (Chair) at 1-800-R-RIGHTS / chair@lppa.org
Harrisburg, PA – The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania today announced their opposition to House Bill 1680 which provides a referendum on annual cost-of-living increases in the minimum wage.
The Harrisburg representatives introducing the bill ignored significant evidence of the negative economic impacts of increased government mandated minimum wages.
According to a recent business survey by the Lincoln Institute, a Pennsylvania based non-profit educational foundation, the increases in the state minimum wage earlier this year have caused businesses to curtail their hiring of unskilled workers. Twenty-one percent said they have responded to the minimum wage hike by not hiring teenaged or unskilled workers. Fifteen percent said they are not hiring new employees; 7% have cancelled or postponed expansion plans; 5% have had to lay-off employees, and 2% have been forced to cut their hours of operations.
The Pennyslvania Chamber of Business and Industry has published a series of examples of the negative impact of the increase. Among the examples are
·Kennywood Park (an amusement park in southwestern PA) which laid off 70 workers as a result of the increase and increased prices to cover labor costs;
·Nearby Idlewild Park which laid off 20 workers;
·A fitness chain store in the Lehigh Valley which laid off 100 part-time workers.
"The bureaucrats in Harrisburg continue to drive stake after stake into the heart of Pennsylvania's economy," stated Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania Media Relations Chair, Doug Leard. "Despite ample evidence that government wage controls hurt the economy and the poor, Harrisburg politicians pursue them as election-year talking points. After the fiasco of their pay raise, you would think the bureaucrats would understand that the days of politics as usual in Pennsylvania are over."
Added former LPPa Chair, Henry Haller, "the real problem is the destruction of entry level jobs for people with minimal skills. Studies have shown that people with full time jobs generally see their income increase year after year; those who must depend on welfare and handouts stay mired in poverty for the rest of their lives. So even though entry level jobs may not pay well, they provide the opportunity for future advancement. A minimum wage increase cuts off those people who most need jobs."
The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in both Pennsylvania and the United States. Nationwide there are over 200,000 registered Libertarians with organizations in all 50 states. Libertarians serve in hundreds of elected offices throughout the nation. Please visit www.LP.org or www.LPPA.org for more information.
Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania
3915 Union Deposit Road #223
Harrisburg, PA 17109
www.lppa.org
1-800-R-RIGHTS
info@lppa.org
End of press release
