Reinvest in Arkansas

This week, the Arkansas Supreme Court decided that Issue 5, the proposal to gradually raise the minimum wage to $11 by 2021, will stay on the ballot. Voters will get to decide next month if 300,000 hardworking Arkansans get a raise. That’s good news for me and working families all across the state.

As a working college student, I’ve only been supporting myself for a few years. Even in that small amount of time I’ve seen rent, groceries, and the cost of other basics increase, while wages here in Hot Springs seem to be staying flat. I work full-time, yet my weekly income after taxes barely covers my car insurance.

As student government president at National Park College, I get to work with our student body and the Hot Springs community. I’ve seen firsthand that the difference between $8.50 and $11 an hour can be the difference between a working student getting to come back to school next semester or having to drop out and move home.

That’s why I support Issue 5. If passed, Issue 5 would mean a raise for over 300,000 Arkansans including college students, but also healthcare workers, teachers’ aides, janitors and waitresses from Hot Springs to Texarkana. According to the National Employment Law Project, Issue 5 would also put $455 million back into the state’s economy by 2021.

People earning minimum wage are not just working students like me, they are parents, grandparents and people of all stripes trying to make a living. Not only would raising the minimum wage reduce the hardships that many face, it would also reduce many people’s dependence on welfare. Making more Arkansans self-reliant would save taxpayers millions of dollars each year. Raising the minimum wage helps those of us who are struggling and helps reinvest money into communities like Hot Springs. TYLER DRAPER

Hot Springs