Who would be covered? A living wage seems appropriate where public funds or public economic incentives are used. Guided by this idea the Bloomington Living Wage Coalition has adopted several specific goals. It shall propose legislation or changes in institutional rules that would require the payment of living wages by the City of Bloomington, along with contractors hired by the City, as well as businesses enjoying tax abatements or other public incentives from it.

What is a living wage? In calculating a living wage, several basic needs are considered – food, shelter, health care, childcare, and transportation. The Indiana Coalition on Housing and Homeless Issues estimated in 1998 that in Monroe County a working parent with one child will have to earn $11.93/hour to satisfy these basic needs. A working parent with two children will need $15.92/hour, while in a family with two working parents and two children $9.20/hour will be needed by each parent. In view of these differences due to family variations, the living wage called for in legislation will cover the basic needs of only a hypothetical average family.

Is there anyplace where it has been adopted? Places like Baltimore, Milwaukee, Los Angeles, and Miami-Dade County have adopted living wage legislation, along with 110 more. That the public should have a say in how employees are paid with its tax dollars is not a new idea. Bloomington need to catch up with this movement for social justice.

Would we have to raise taxes? To assist families of low wage earners, we now pay taxes to cover food stamps, housing assistance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, medical care, and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Taxes earmarked for these purposes are, in effect, a subsidy for those employers who pay poverty wages. A living wage would reduce the tax revenues needed for this subsidy. Moreover, a living wage would reduce community expenditures by promoting stable neighborhoods, less crime, and better educated citizens. Finally, those who earn a living wage and the businesses they patronize would begin to make larger tax contributions. In short, the tax revenues needed for a living wage would be offset in numerous ways.

Wouldn’t both employment and investment suffer? Job increases or losses in an area depend more on whether or not there is an overall healthy economy there than they do on the presence or absence of a living wage requirement. But how can it be that businesses pay higher wages without suffering? The basic factor is that employees paid a living wage will tend to be more productive than ones kept at poverty wages. They are more satisfied with their work, more willing to upgrade their skills, absent less, and less likely to move on to another employer. Improved productivity and morale in an area add up to a stimulus for more investment.

What is the Living Wage Coalition? It is bringing community, faith, and labor groups together around the conviction that Bloomington would be a better place for us all if public funds were used to pay a living wage. In building a broad based coalition we are preparing a means for convincing the public and through it the appropriate elected officials that a living wage should be paid where public funds are used. We urge you to bring a group to which you belong into the coalition.

Bloomington Living Wage Coalition PO Box 1966 Bloomington IN 47402