The debate over whether to raise the minimum wage continued Tuesday night, with a Hillsborough County Young Democrats panel discussion.
Taking place at CoWork Ybor as part of the group's #LeadHillsborough Conversation Series, the panel included Kofi Hunt, an organizer for the Fight for $15 movement and Mit Patel, founder of the local small business MIT Computers, in an effort to present both sides of the coin on the issue of a wage hike.
The conversation remained cordial throughout, with both speakers agreeing that the current minimum wage is too low.
“There definitely should be standards at the lowest level and they should be to the [living] standards of America,” said Patel. “America is the largest economy by three or four times…There has to be something plausible.”
However, Patel made clear that an almost-$7 rise in the state minimum wage may be too much for local small businesses to handle, especially compared to other cities and states that have already committed to the $15 figure. In most of those places, the hike was smaller and the cost of living much higher.
“We're not like, say, Seattle or San Francisco where $15 wouldn't make as much of a difference," he said. "I think $15 makes a huge difference in the economy that we're in. We have to be very careful about small businesses. In fact I have several employees I've hired below that, but only to give them an opportunity to make it to another level. If that was set now, I would not be looking to hire that person because of the costs.
Patel added that if the $15 were implemented, he wouldn't have to cut hours or lay anyone off but would only be able to hire industry veterans and not give young and unexperienced employees with potential a chance.
Hunt countered by pointing to the rise in expendable income throughout society that would occur through the higher minimum wage, thus boosting demand and flowing into small businesses.
“Small businesses will benefit from this," he said. "Small businesses will benefit from the average person having more disposable income and these two largest employers in the world, WalMart and McDonald's, who snuff out small businesses, will be put in a position where small businesses are more competitive. It will only help.”
Hunt also pointed that a contentious movement such as the Fight for 15 will play a role in defining candidates' political leanings in the 2016 election.
“We get to use this as a wedge issue," he said. "This is politically one of the most progressive political issues that have been highlighted in my lifetime. You get to see where people really stand….The simple fact is that oftentimes people who consider themselves conservative speak in a way that certain people don't deserve a decent quality of life, whether immigrants, fast food workers or refugees. For people I know that are progressive, that's not even a question, of course they do. This issue will allow us to separate the wheat from the chaff and to decide that these are people that we should support.”
Several local politicians were in attendance, including State Senate District 19 candidate Betty Reed, State House District 59 candidate Naze Zahebzamani and H.D. 63 candidate Mike Reedy observing the debate and allying themselves with the movement for higher wages.
The Hillsborough County Young Democrats also elected their new president on Tuesday, with Maya Brown replacing the outgoing Cesar Hernandez, who is vacating his position as he takes a role with local transit agency HART.
This article appears in Nov 12-18, 2015.