State Minimum Wage Laws as a Response to Federal Inaction

• Author: Shanna Rose
• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0160323X211000824
• Subject Matter: Special Issue 2020

Special Issue 2020

State Minimum Wage Laws

as a Response to Federal

Inaction

Shanna Rose

1

Abstract

This article analyzes state legislative and ballot measure activity related to the minimum wage

between 2003 and 2020. The analysis distinguishes proposals to raise the minimum wage from those

to index it to the annual rate of inflation, and examines the proposed dollar amount, the process

used (legislation vs. ballot measure), and the measure’s success or failure. The analysis suggests that

state activity tends to increase when the minimum wage rises on the federal policy agenda, and that

partisanship and ideology also play a central role in efforts to raise and index state minimum wages.

Keywords

minimum wage, federalism, state politics, labor policy

In his 2014 State of the Union address, Presi-

dent Barack Obama urged Congress to raise the

federal minimum wage from $7.25—where it

has stood since 2009—to $10.10 per hour and

index it to the Consumer Price Index (CPI)

thereafter. Acknowledging that during a period

of divided government and rising partisan

polarization, Congress was unlikely to heed his

call, Obama added: “To every mayor, governor,

and state legislator in America, I say, you don’t

have to wait for Congress to act; Americans

will support you if you take this on” (Obama

2014a). When Congress indeed failed to act,

many states quickly took matters into their own

hands, passing legislation or ballot measures

raising the state minimum wage to $10.10 (or

higher) and, in some cases, tying future

increases to inflation.

The minimum wage is a prominent example

of a policy arena in which federal inaction has

prompted a growing number of states to take

the lead, yet there is scant literature on this

link—or on the politics of state minimum wage

policy in general—making it ripe for study.

This article analyzes state legislative and ballot

measure activity related to the minimum wage

between 2003 (the first year for which compre-

hensive data are available) and 2020. The anal-

ysis distinguishes proposals to raise the state

minimum wage from those to index future

increases, and examines the proposed dollar

amount, the process used (legislation vs. ballot

measure), and the measure’s success or failure.

The analysis suggests that state activity tends to

increase when the minimum wage rises on the

1

Department of Government, Claremont McKenna Col-

lege, Claremont, CA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Shanna Rose, Department of Government, Claremont

McKenna College, Kravis Center 216, Claremont, CA

91711, USA.

Email: srose@cmc.edu

State and Local GovernmentReview

2020, Vol. 52(4) 277-286

ªThe Author(s) 2021

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DOI: 10.1177/0160323X211000824

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