Time to give the working poor a foot forward? Two efforts are in motion in Colorado to raise the $5.15 an hour minimum wage set by Congress in 1996 closer to $7.
Eighteen states have raised their minimum wage and six others are trying to get initiatives on the November ballot. Wages have lagged productivity in this country and Congress shows no signs of increasing the rate – even though they’ve raised their own salaries by nearly $30,000 over the last decade.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson told his legislature last month he wanted a three-year phase-in to $7.50 an hour. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he would support increasing California’s minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.75. Gov. Bill Owens said he has no position.
Colorado’s effort is just getting under way, said Steve Adams, Colorado AFL-CIO president. “All the hard-working men and women in Colorado deserve a pay raise which they haven’t had in nearly 10 years,” Adams said. The current federal minimum wage amounts to $10,712 a year before taxes.
Sen. Shawn Mitchell, R-Broomfield, warned that raising the minimum wage would “price some jobs out of the market” and force layoffs.
Said Adams: “It’s never happened before.”
Accuracy in elections
With primary elections just six months away, Secretary of State Gigi Dennis has decertified problem machines for counting mail ballots.
The scanners, used in 31 counties, raised questions last year, prompting Dennis to order a hand recount of votes in 10 of the counties. The recount changed the outcome of two races in Clear Creek and Chaffee counties.
The Optech III-P Eagle machines are unable to read ballots marked by the wrong pen or pencil. Dennis first said she would give the vendors time to deal with the problem, but now wants new machines.
Colorado already missed a Jan. 1 federal deadline for creating a statewide database of registered voters, due to problems with another contractor. The machines will continue to be used at polling places where workers can monitor writing implements. Counties will get $40,000 each in federal funds to buy new scanners before the August primaries.
Computer aids gumshoes
A useful new computer system is matching guns to crimes like never before. Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent in-charge Ron Arndt said that in a recent six-month period, the agency’s National Integrated Ballistics Identification System linked numerous crimes, among them a drive-by shooting in Aurora with a burglary in Denver; a homicide in Colorado Springs with an unlawful firearm discharge case in Denver; and shootings in four metro-area cities were tied to one gun.
The new system stores data collected in Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado and links to a national database. Arndt said it has become a critical tool for aiding investigators.
Owen not stepping down
Popular Republican Sen. Dave Owen was surprised to learn that his campaign for the House seat held by freshman Democrat James Riesberg is the subject of some unusual buzz on the political grapevine. The speculation is that Owen, 74, wants to win back the seat previously held by GOP Rep. Tambor Williams, then retire, paving the way for a Republican replacement.
It’s not true, says Owen. He says any such a strategy “would betray my constituents.”
Some recall Republican Rep. Don Lee winning re-election in 2004 in Jefferson County, then immediately retiring.
Owen, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, has won handily in his Weld County district since 1987, first in the House, then the Senate, where he is now term-limited. Owen said one county commissioner has expressed concern about the rumor. “I plan to serve at least four years, depending on my health,” he pledged.
Julia C. Martinez
(jmartinez@denverpost.com) is a member of The Denver Post editorial board.
