Groups debate push for wage increase

Spirited arguments for and against raising Colorado’s minimum wage, as proposed in Amendment 70, were aired Thursday night at a Denver Post partnered forum.

The first “Tap the Vote” forum pitted Debra Brown, a manager for Colorado Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, who backs passage, against Tyler Sandberg, who is with the opposition group Keep Colorado Working.

Sandberg said the amendment, which aims to raise — in steps by 2020 — the minimum wage from its current $8.31 hourly rate to $12 “goes too far” and the increase will be particularly harmful to small, rural and agricultural businesses.

The increase, Sandberg said, would result in business closures, jobs being cut and workers’ hours being cut as business owners adjust to the increase. “Small businesses will have to lay off workers,” he said.

Brown, on the other hand, said the increase would stimulate the state economy.

“We know it is good for business. We know it is good for the economy,” Brown said, citing, in part, a 2006 statewide wage increase.

Higher wages result in happier, better workers, Brown said, with less job turnover. Workers who earn higher wages spend the raise they receive in their local economy, she argued.

Sandberg, however, wasn’t buying it. He pointed to a recent business decision by Wendy’s, the hamburger chain, to eliminate counter jobs in some outlets outside Colorado.