Minimum wage is set to increase in Virginia over the next couple of years.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill into law on Friday that will incrementally increase minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2028. Spanberger called it a win for Virginia families.
Democrats have tried to get the law passed for the last few years, while conservatives warned it would hurt businesses or lead to increased inflation.
“We were very, very careful to make sure we were doing things to help Virginians and not hurt businesses,” said Del. Jeion Ward, a Democrat representing the Hampton area who worked on the bill.
But the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce disagreed and urged the governor to veto it.
Virginia’s state minimum wage is currently $12.77 an hour. That will increase to $13.75 in 2027 and $15 in 2028 under the bill. After that, the wage would increase alongside inflation.
The fiscally conservative think-tank Employment Policies Institute estimates the wage increase could cost Virginia 12,000 jobs, including 6% of the state’s restaurant workforce.
“What we have seen in economic research is that sometimes minimum wages can actually contribute to inflation or make it worse, and so our organization is concerned about this only because we don’t want to continue to see inflation get worse for the folks we’re trying to help,” said Rebekah Paxton, research director for Employment Policies Institute.
Virginia tried twice over the last two years to pass the increase, but former Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed the bill each time.
When asked why she’s confident the increase won’t hurt businesses, Ward said because Youngkin left office telling everyone that business was booming.
“Before the past governor left, he told us how well Virginians were doing and how well businesses were doing and so we knew that we were on the right path,” Ward said.
Right now 18 other states and Washington, D.C., have a $15 minimum wage or higher.
from Local – NBC4 Washington https://ift.tt/1BzGWD7
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