Andy Challenger, Senior Vice President, talked to NPR’s Marketplace on President Biden’s work on raising the national minimum wage.
“On the other hand, many small businesses are operating on a knife’s edge during this downturn, Challenger said, and “pressure on wages is going to be a very difficult pill for many businesses to swallow at the moment.”
There are compromise options like allowing regional variations, exceptions for economic downturns or raising the minimum wage slowly. That’s what Florida voters approved in November, phasing in a $15 minimum wage even in that solidly purple state.
Challenger also said public opinion in favor of the raise seems to be growing.
“An increase in the minimum wage seems to be more popular than at any point I can recently remember among the population,” he said.
There are already 29 states that have passed laws requiring minimum wages higher than the federal level.”
