Steve Burns
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) On the heels of giving preliminary approval to a landmark increase to the minimum wage in the District, incrementally up to $15 by 2020, some Councilmembers are also asking if that actually solves the underlying problems of income inequality and stagnation.
“Raising the minimum wage is a good thing, but is $15 an hour enough? Or should the number be $35, or $50 an hour?” Councilmember David Grosso asked at Tuesday’s legislative meeting. “$15 at full time is $2,400 a month. That is not enough to actually live in the District of Columbia when you add transportation, healthcare, education, housing, to all these costs.”
Grosso is proposing the Council study the feasibility of a “minimum income system,” guaranteeing income to everyone in the city regardless of their employment status. “A minimum income system is an alternative social welfare provision, with the basic idea of providing a floor of income upon which residents can build other sources of revenue.”
Grosso said he supports the minimum wage increase, but it disproportionately puts a burden on businesses to see that residents can live a “meaningful life.” Councilmember Mary Cheh echoed his sentiments at the meeting.
“There is a larger question here,” she said. “We have to see how people can economically survive in this city. The (minimum wage) is not a panacea, and we cannot possibly think that that solves the economic disparities that exist in the District of Columbia.”
Cheh said the problem is evidenced by people who have jobs, yet are still homeless.
“There’s something very, very wrong with that picture,” she said.
Grosso cited the Mincome project, a Canadian experiment in the mid-1970s that gave a controlled group of citizens in Manitoba an unconditional minimum income as an experiment on social well-being. Grosso said the experiment was ultimately successful, though it was discontinued after a switch in party power in 1979.
“As a government, we must be bold in our approach and unafraid to take a risk, especially when the long-term impacts are promising.”
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