The truth about minimum wage

I read with interest the Dec. 13 article, “Democrats back $15 minimum wage.” If passed, the bill would raise the minimum wage statewide to $15 an hour.

According to the article, one supporter, Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, said the purpose of the minimum wage is to make sure “the work that people do allows them to stay out of dependency on public support.”

Sen. Dembrow’s statement is completely false. That may be why the senator supports the bill, but it never was or ever should be the purpose of the minimum wage law.

I take strong issue with the senator’s false statement because once it is printed or stated several times in public, unless it is refuted, it tends to become the truth.

The truth is, the minimum wage was designed and enacted to be an entry-level wage for persons with no work experience who entered the workforce. After gaining experience, the labor market for each individual job determines the wage of the worker.

Improvement in job skills and education is the key to a living wage, not government rules.

Don Schellenberg

Dallas