A state senator is trying for the second consecutive session to repeal a component of the state minimum wage law in the Nevada constitution.Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, presented SJR2 to members of the Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections on Thursday. It is the same resolution Hardy sponsored last session that never made it out of committee.This year, however, is different because of the Affordable Care Act’s start next year, Hardy said.“There’s a new upside-down economic landscape, and opinions change,” Hardy told committee members. “Now that it’s not a sword hanging over their head, we ought to let them vote again.”The resolution would repeal a constitutional law that requires employers who don’t provide health insurance to pay $1 an hour more than the federal minimum wage. Voters adopted the increased wage law by wide margins in 2004 and 2006.Under the Affordable Care Act, employers with more than 50 workers that don’t provide health insurance will be required to pay a $2,000 fine per employee, after the first 30 workers. For example, if a company has 51 employees, the fine would apply to 21.“It will allow the health insurance we are now covered by to take effect and prevent employers from a double penalty,” Hardy said of the resolution.Because it would change the constitution, the process is lengthy. The resolution would have to pass this session and again in 2015 before going to a vote of the people in 2016. Because of the process, Hardy said, passing the resolution now would position the Legislature to make an informed decision next session based on what happens between now and then as the Affordable Care Act is implemented.“This vote now puts us in a position to do something then,” Hardy said. “It does not put our course in concrete, because one Legislature cannot bind another vote.”Representatives from the restaurant and retail industries and two chambers of commerce voiced support for the resolution.“This resolution is a job-saving resolution,” said George Ross with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce. “We don’t need an incentive anymore to provide health care.”He added that keeping the high minimum wage would be a hiring deterrent to employers.Opponents said the resolution might be akin to the straw that broke the camel’s back for minimum-wage earners.“Most of these minimum-wage earners have two to four jobs, and every penny they make goes right back into the economy,” said Patrick Sanderson, a lobbyist who spent his career as a construction worker with multiple jobs. “These are the people trying to live as a human being on minimum wage, and you can’t do it. To lower this wage would be a disgrace.”Sen. Pat Spearman, D-North Las Vegas and the chairwoman of the committee, said she was undecided on the issue and acknowledged both sides have merit. She said the multi-session process would not be any more of a factor than other considerations.
