Minimum wage hike necessary for struggling families, city economy

Over the past eight years, we’ve worked together with city agencies, the entire City Council and committed community partners to address the affordability challenges faced by our residents — the costs of housing, food, healthcare, transportation and more. Wages simply haven’t kept pace with the cost of living in Denver or nationally, and families are struggling.

Income inequality and economic insecurity are major issues in Denver and elsewhere. Fair wages are central to ensuring Denver remains inclusive and affordable for everyone, and a livable wage is critical to achieving greater racial, ethnic and gender equity in our city, as many of those struggling at the minimum wage are women and people of color.

Our proposal would raise the minimum wage in Denver to $13.80 an hour on Jan. 1, $15.87 on Jan. 1, 2021, and then adjust according to the Consumer Price Index each year after that. It’s long past time that Denver’s workers received a raise. For the 100,000 workers who would benefit from this proposal — 74,000 from the first increase alone — and for all those workers who are struggling to make ends meet, we can’t wait. We owe it to them to move as quickly as we can.

We, too, value a strong and thriving business environment and local economy, and are interested in helping our local businesses problem-solve the adjustments that may be required to raise worker wages. Some may feel the inMichael Hancock is the mayor of Denver. Robin Kniech is an at-large Denver City Councilmember.

crease is happening too fast or by too much. But delaying this proposal, even for one year, will only put those who are barely getting by even further behind.

The minimum wage increases we are proposing are in line with the rates of increase in peer cities, such as Seattle and Washington, D.C., and those increases have shown no real negative impacts to employment or prices. Decades of research shows minimum wage increases feed right back into our local economy through increased spending — creating new demand and jobs that help to counteract those short-term adjustments to costs. And in this competitive job market, we know higher wages also help retain talent and cut down on turnover costs, both of which help businesses.

We have also heard concerns from our restaurants about the impact of the tip credit. The state law requires the maximum allowed tip credit for food and beverage workers to be $3.02 — matching the state constitutional tip credit — and does not allow for any increase of the credit over time. In this, we have no leeway, just as we have no leeway to carve out exemptions — the state law requires our minimum wage to apply to all workers.

Denver’s workers drive our city’s, region’s and state’s success. A raise for Denver’s workers would mean a boost for our local economy and it will mean families can better support themselves and better afford the city that they helped build.

Throughout October, we are holding a community dialogue to listen and take feedback on our proposal to raise the minimum wage citywide here in Denver. We need to improve the most essential pocketbook issue for our workforce. We look forward to working with our community to make it happen. Learn more at denvergov.org/livablewage.