When some Maine state legislators vote against raising the state minimum wage, they don’t just let Maine’s struggling families down; they let all of us down. Maine people understand that people who work hard should not have to live in poverty.

A while ago, I talked about raising Maine’s Minimum Wage to the level of a Livable Wage. Our Maine legislature just voted on a small step in that direction. LD 235 proposes to raise our Minimum Wage by 50 cents over two years to $7 an hour. Of course, I think that’s a good idea for all the reasons a Living Wage is a good idea. So I contacted my State Legislator to ask him to support the bill. We’ve been having some conversations about it, and I’m learning a lot.

• It’s been well-proven that raising the minimum wage does not cost jobs.

• The retail sector, which has the largest share of minimum wage workers, has actually experienced a substantial increase in the number of jobs in the years since Maine began raising its minimum wage above the federal minimum.

• Raising the minimum wage reduces employee turnover (and associated costs), and increases productivity (people are more productive when paid better, especially when the higher wage reduces the stresses of poverty)

• With an increase in their pay, low-wage workers typically spend more money at the establishments where they work.

Although my Representative admits that he wouldn’t want to try and live on the current $6.50 an hour, he is concerned that some local seasonal businesses won’t be able to hire as many students in the summertime. In researching answers for him, I found out that only 30 percent of minimum wage jobs are held by workers under 20, and most of these kids are working because their families need the money to make ends meet.

Some who don’t support a higher minimum wage want to see a lower minimum wage just for students. I certainly have heard business owners bewail the shortage of willing and hardworking youth. I can’t imagine young people will be willing to work for a sub-minimum wage. And, just imagine a single mom or an elderly senior applying for a job at Hannaford, just to be denied because the store can pay a teenager less! Now, who does that help?

The main arguments that Republicans give for opposing a minimum wage increase are thus completely contrary to the facts. The Republicans are presumably relying on deceptions because they do not want to explain the real reasons behind their opposition. If Republicans believe that hard-working people should be forced to choose between food and healthcare for their children, or should have to go without heat or a home, they should just say so. If they believe hard-working people should be on public assistance so Wal-Mart can ship more money off to Arkansas, instead of keeping it in Maine, they should say so. They should make an honest case for their values, and see what Maine people think.

I prefer to keep moving toward a higher minimum wage and keep more of our hard-earned dollars circulating in our local economies. As often happens, policies that make our economy fairer also make it stronger.

Go to http://janus.state.me.us/legis/LawMakerWeb/search.asp and search on LD 235. You can read the bill, see who is sponsoring it, and what action is being taken. Ask your own State Representatives how they are voting on this issue and why. Go here to find them: http://janus.state.me.us/house/townlist.htm. They need to hear from you.