Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jack Hatch is calling for an increase in the state’s minimum wage, raising it to $10.10 an hour.
Hatch argues it’s one way of raising private sector hourly wages in general. Hatch says Iowa’s status as a “low wage state” hasn’t budged under 30-years-worth of Republican Governor Terry Branstad’s economic development strategies. Hatch accuses Branstad of having a “perfect track record of failure” in economic development. Hatch says Branstad has failed to fulfill the promises he’s made about job creation and personal income growth for Iowans.
In addition to raising the state’s minimum wage, Hatch promises as governor he would pay the prevailing wage to those who work on state-funded construction projects.
Iowa’s minimum wage has been raised above the national minimum wage twice in recent decades. Republican Terry Branstad approved raising Iowa’s minimum wage above the national rate just before his 1990 reelection race. In 2007, raising the state’s minimum wage was the first bill Democratic Governor Chet Culver signed into law..