Larry McKibben
A member of the Board of Regents says he’ll oppose raising the minimum wage on the University of Iowa campus to match the increase by Johnson county.
Regent Larry McKibben made his comments following a U-I presentation at the Regents meeting in Ames today which mentioned Johnson County’s ordinance incrementally hiking the minimum wage minimum to $10.10 an hour by next year.
“I was very clear about that when they finished the presentation. I will oppose raising the minimum wage to cause higher debt to our students,” McKibben says. “So, I personally will oppose it in Johnson County.” McKibben chairs the Regents’ efficiency committee which is working to cut expenses on the three state university campuses. “I’m working hard to reduce debt of families and children…and I think we can’t be an outlier vis-a-vee the other two universities…and I want an answer to that,” McKibben says.
He says Johnson County is “out of step” with the rest of Iowa.
The U-I’s chief financial administrator Rod Lehnertz said later that the University isn’t going to be bound “What we’re going to commit to is a market-based hiring of employees for the University. It doesn’t necessarily mean though that we start with a stature that meets a minimum wage requirement,” Lehnertz.
Several Johnson County communities are also opting-out of the supervisors’ minimum wage ordinance.
Thanks to Dean Borg, Iowa Public Radio.