National News

Is The Tradeoff For Getting $15-An-Hour Minimum Wage Worthwhile?

Editor’s note: California’s minimum wage is $14 an hour, raised $1 on Jan. 1. President Joe Biden has proposed raising the federal minimum wage, $7.25 an hour since 2009, to $15 an hour by 2025, then indexed for inflation. Here is a summary of the Congressional Budget Office analysis.

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If enacted at the end of March 2021, the Raise the Wage Act of 2021 (S. 53, as introduced on Jan. 26) would raise the federal minimum wage, in annual increments, to $15 per hour by June 2025 and then adjust it to increase at the same rate as median hourly wages. In this report, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill’s effects on the federal budget. • The cumulative budget deficit from 2021–2031 would increase by $54 billion. Increases in annual deficits would be smaller before 2025, as the minimum-wage increases were being phased in, than in later years. • Higher prices for goods and services — stemming from the higher wages of workers paid at or near the minimum wage, such as those providing longterm health care — would contribute to increases in federal spending. • Changes in employment and in the distribution of income would increase spending for some programs (such as unemployment compensation), reduce spending for others (such as nutrition programs), and boost federal revenues (on net).

Those estimates are consistent with CBO’s conventional approach to estimating the costs of legislation. They assume nominal gross domestic product would be unchanged. As a result, total income is roughly unchanged.

Also, the deficit estimate above does not include increases in net outlays for interest on federal debt (as projected under current law) that would stem from higher interest rates and changes in inflation.

Those interest costs would add $16 billion to the deficit from 2021 to 2031.

The estimates in this report are based on CBO’s most recent economic forecast, released in February. CBO estimated the budgetary effects using techniques developed over the past two years. Those estimates are based on CBO’s estimates of the bill’s effects on the economic behavior of individuals and firms — which in this report refers to actions that change relative prices, the distribution of income, employment, and other economic factors.

“Minimum Wage” page 10

“Rispin” from page 6

She learned he was an orphan who never went beyond high school, had dreams of being an opera singer and a theater actor, then married an heiress — the daughter of the founder of Conoco Oil.

“He was part of a syndicate that wanted to develop land along the California coast, and was the front man,” she said. “Rispin wanted to become an oil millionaire. He wasn’t a slick operator, but he was in over his head … He didn’t have the skills.”

Deed Restriction

Evy Brown, a semi-retired lawyer, owns the last farmhouse left on Clares Street, built in 1927.

She does not want the name of Henry Allen Rispin on the city’s new park.

That’s because the deed to her home has a restrictive covenant mandating who can and cannot buy the property.

It says, “That said property shall never be occupied by any person or persons other than of the Caucasian or white race … to their heirs and assigns forever.”

As Brown sees it, this is a racially restrictive covenant, which people in power used to keep individuals deemed undesirable out of neighborhoods, limit land ownership and acquisition of wealth.

Swift sees it differently.

“In those days, nearly all real estate deeds and rental agreements had covenants regarding race,” she said. “This was particularly true of resort areas.”

She added,” I would not brand Rispin a racist in his own time, or probably any time, given that it was language picked up and forwarded on until somebody realized that ‘whites only’ not only didn’t apply, it wasn’t appropriate.”

Brown considers justifications to celebrate Rispin and name a park after him troubling.

She suggests a cultural sensitivity study be performed by independent parties with no financial interest when decisions are made to protect the public trust.

Mayor Brooks asked city staff to research whether Rispin’s name had “any issues,” and she expects a report back “in the next coming months.”

“It’s our due diligence to make we’re headed in the right direction in terms of …what we are naming it,” she said. “I appreciate everyone’s input on that matter. “It is really important we learn more about the history of Capitola and the folks that lived here.” n •••

Read about the park project at https:// tinyurl.com/Capitola-rispin-park (full URL: https://www.cityofcapitola. org/communitydevelopment/page/rispin-parkproject#:~:text=In%20July%202014%2C%20 the%20City,grounds%20to%20create%20 an%20approximately%20.)

Read about Capitola founding by Carolyn Swift: https://www.cityofcapitola.org/ capitola-museum/page/brief-history-capitola