North Carolina Taking Steps To Increase Minimum Wage To $15
The North Carolina minimum wage could soon be more than doubling. A new bill was introduced by two democrats from Mecklenburg County. QCNews reports that Senators Joyce Waddell and Rachel Hunt were sponsors on the bill that was filed in the state Senate on Thursday. If the bill passes it would raise the North Carolina minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour. That is an increase of over 100%. The increase would go into effect on January 1, 2024.
I fully support raising the minimum wage and even coming up with a plan to get to that $15 per hour mark. That being said I think increasing by such a high percentage at once is not the correct way to do it. I would be more supportive of a plan that raised it gradually every few months or yearly. Most businesses are already paying significantly more than $7.25 an hour due to having to compete for workers. But I personally would worry about the pricing impacts when businesses are forced to pay significantly increased wages. Another concern I have is that companies will decide to just have fewer people do more work to compensate for this stark increase.
That being said this is just a proposed bill. To become law the bill must first be assigned to and approved by a committee, then be voted on and passed by the House and Senate, and finally signed by Governor Roy Cooper. So while the ball is rolling, it still has a ways to go. What do you think about this proposed increase to the minimum wage?
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