It’s not often that we write about our accomplishments in terms of things that didn’t pass the General Assembly, but stopping a massive, job-destroying minimum wage hike was indeed one of the biggest things our team accomplished this session.
Democrats introduced legislation that would have nearly doubled the minimum wage in Virginia, and then set it to increase automatically, regardless of business conditions in Virginia. Other states have tried similar efforts, with disastrous results for workers.
As Forbes reported just this week:
“On December 31st, NYC raised the minimum wage to $15, a 15% increase from the 2018 level, and a 34% hike from 2017…
“The result? Close to three-quarters of restaurants in New York City have cut labor input since the minimum wage was raised to $15 per hour. That’s according to a survey by The NYC Hospitality Alliance. Specifically, 76.5% of full-service restaurant respondents said they had to cut employee hours and 36% said they cut jobs in 2018 in response to the mandated minimum wage hikes.”
“That’s consistent with BLS data, which show that New York City full service restaurant employment has gone from an 8% growth back in 2012 to a -2% growth in the last two years.”
Republicans know that a minimum wage that works in Arlington would be a disaster for business owners in Gate City. That’s why they stopped this ill-considered legislation, and will continue to protect jobs all over the Commonwealth.
Protecting jobs is another one of the 51 accomplishments by the 51 members of the Republican-led House of Delegates.