Wage war drones on

Bills that would raise the minimum wage in Massachusetts to $15 an hour got all the attention at the State House yesterday, with a parade of pandering pols and a clutch of labor activists demanding a $4 increase, preferably within three years.

But frankly we were more interested in the bill on the hearing docket calling for a study to determine whether the minimum wage hike had the dynamic impact on the economy that supporters had promised. Remember it was only three years ago that lawmakers hiked the minimum wage, with the $11 rate taking effect just nine months ago.

Imagine — evaluating the effectiveness of a massive, burdensome policy change deciding whether to double down on it . . .

Also on the docket was a bill that would authorize a slightly lower — and we do mean

lower — minimum wage for workers under 18, an effort to preserve work opportunities for teens as the cost of labor in Massachusetts skyrockets.

Sad to say those are the bills that don’t have a chance. No, it’s far easier to rally the labor and activist troops to get behind the “Fight for $15,” all the while focusing on full-time workers who earn the minimum wage (a minority of Massachusetts workers) and ignoring the impact on small businesses.

Business groups are rightly alarmed about yet another financial burden imposed by the state. Small businesses in particular will struggle to absorb a 36 percent wage increase.

But when it comes to the minimum wage Democratic politicians on Beacon Hill appear to have the same level of concern for businesses as they did for taxpayers when they voted to raise their own salaries earlier this year. That is to say, little to none.