Could Iowa’s Minimum Wage Be Going Up?
The state's minimum wage is currently set at $7.25/hour, the same as the federal standard. However, many individual counties have already begun to enforce a wage increase.
As the cost of living increases, it's sensible that states would adjust the minimum wage accordingly.
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad also seems in favor of a potential minimum wage hike:
I want to keep us competitive ... I do think the present minimum wage has been in place for some time and it may be appropriate to modestly increase it like some of our neighboring states have done.
In Eastern Iowa, Johnson County was the first in the state to pass a countywide minimum wage ordinance, which brought the local rate up to $10.10 last month. Linn County’s minimum wage increased in January to $8.25 an hour, and is slated to increase to $9.25 next year and reach $10.25 in 2019.
However, House Republicans are in favor of a bill which would void those decisions and force each county to go back to the state's standard minimum wage.
According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Iowa’s hourly minimum currently is lower than neighboring states Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska.