Friday, February 20, 2009

Prevailing Wage Doesn't Prevail

I think we can call this one a "stunner". The prevailing wage bill at the Iowa statehouse the Democrats were trying to push through before the weekend has hit a major bump. Democrats thought they had the 51 votes they would need to pass it. As it turns out they are stuck at 50 votes. Speaker of the House Pat Murphy plans to keep someone in the speaker's chair through the weekend until Monday, so the voting isn't officially closed. And ultimately that would have meant the bill failed. I assume the Dems are hoping a member has a change of heart over the weekend, one way or the other. Geri Huser of Altoona, according to Radio Iowa's Kay Henderson was out of town today and missed the vote. Do you think she will get some attention this weekend?

More on this later. But here's the statement from Murphy's office:

STATEMENT FROM HOUSE SPEAKER PAT MURPHY

"There is a difference between creating jobs and creating good-paying jobs. Thousands of Iowans work hard every day but don't get paid a decent wage. Prevailing wage is one step we can take to provide more support for Iowa's middle-class families. I want to be sure that taxpayer money is going to responsible Iowa employers who pay a decent wage, not employers who take advantage of people like we've seen in Postville and Atalissa. As the presiding officer of the House, I will stay in the Speaker's chair and the voting machine will remain open until Monday. My goal is to get 51 votes and make sure we have good-paying jobs for middle class families."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

the defeat of the prevailing wage was probably the best thing that could have happened to small business in this state for some time. I am a small business owner and I know one thing for sure and that is if an employee is good he gets good money if this employee is not a good worker then wages shall reflect. As far as Postville if memory serves correct a great number of them were illegal, say what you want about higher wages but a higher wage at this particular packing plant would not have bought in more american employees packing plants are at the bottom when you cant get any other job such as illegals, ex-cons,or people who have very limited skill

Anonymous said...

I cant say I completely agree with you, however one thing that I have noticed is alot of the problem isnt in the pay for employees but the problem is in the employee themselfs with terrible work ethic, poor quality, and thoughts of "the less work I do the better" now what on earth would higher wages do for a person like that? By the way this problem is accross the board it seems as though nobody really wants to work they just want as much money as they can get with the least amount of work.

Anonymous said...

I agree with your last comment that some people don't want to work they just want as much money as they can get. Mostly small business owners!!