Rallying for a raise

Democrats show support for Amendment 42
By Douglas Crowl
The Daily Times-Call

LONGMONT — Mead resident Paul Zoric may have been one of the few people who attended the Boulder County Democratic Party’s rally to raise the state’s minimum wage Monday without his mind already made up.
The rally was formed to support Amendment 42, which, if passed in November, would raise the minimum wage in Colorado from $5.15 to $6.85, the first increase in nine years.
It also would adjust the rate each year for inflation and add the law to Colorado’s constitution.
“It’s a tough one,” Zoric said. “It’s really not my issue.”
He wondered if his taxes would have to be increased to account for government jobs, for example.
“I’m really just going to have to think about it,” Zoric said, though he said he’s leaning toward supporting the amendment.
About 90 people gathered Monday afternoon at Roosevelt Park for the rally, which turned into a stumping opportunity for candidates.
Many people howled in support of pro-Amendment 42 rhetoric from the speakers and literally hissed at any mention of Republican politicians, including President Bush, Gov. Bill Owens and U.S. Rep. Marilyn Musgrave.
“Five-fifteen an hour is a joke,” said state Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont. “This is absolutely the right thing to do.”
Fourth Congressional District candidate Angie Paccione, Boulder County Commissioner Tom Mayer and state Rep. Jack Pommer, D-Boulder, all spoke at the rally.
“If you are working hard, 40 hours a week, you should not be in poverty,” Paccione said.
Amendment 42 proponents say people who work minimum- wage jobs, three-quarters of whom are adults, can’t make ends meet. They also say nearly everything has increased in value in the last nine years, except that wage.
Jan Rigg — spokeswoman for Respect Colorado’s Constitution, a group formed to oppose Amendment 42 — said there’s more to the issue than these points. She said only 37,000 Coloradans earn the minimum wage, a quarter of whom are teenagers and most of whom are in their early 20s.
It’s an “entry level” wage, not a living wage, and it’s used to train people, she said.
“You certainly don’t leave them at the minimum wage forever,” Rigg said Friday in a phone interview.
Raising the wage would mean eliminating many entry-level jobs, she said, because businesses will have to make up for the mandated salary increases.
“A lot of small businesses are going to be crushed, seriously,” Rigg added.
She also said it’s dangerous to change Colorado’s constitution to automatically increase the minimum wage for inflation because it takes away control of the wage in times when the economy is down.