Minimum Wage

By Dan Frosch
The New York Times

DENVER – When Coloradoans voted to tie the state's minimum wage to inflation, they were trying to make sure low-wage workers did not fall too far behind the cost of living. But their vote has had an unintended consequence: Colorado plans to lower its minimum wage next year because of falling inflation rates, becoming the first state in the nation do so.

For immediate release
Colorado minimum wage likely to drop
under new inflation rate

Groups that helped pass Amendment 42
comment on possible change in pay for workers

The Denver Post

Collapsing energy and transportation prices quenched inflation in the metro area in the first half of 2009, according to a report Friday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The consumer price index for Denver-Boulder-Greeley decreased 0.6 percent between the first half of 2008 and the first half of 2009.

Inflation ran at a hot 3.9 percent rate last year.

By Tillie Fong
Rocky Mountain Independent

tillie.fong@rmindependent.com

Angela Charles was thrilled when she got a part-time job with Project Angel Heart in April.

"It was hard making ends meet," said Charles, 45, of Aurora. "Everything depended on my husband's income."

Charles' husband, Robert, makes $12 an hour working full time at a warehouse. Even though their two daughters are grown and no longer living with them, it was still a struggle to get by on only his salary.

"I like to have food in the refrigerator," Angela Charles said.

This issue brief details the demographics of those who would be affected by Amendment 42, which would increase the minimum wage in Colorado and index it to inflation.

The Denver Post examines the effects of Amendment 42 on Colorado workers.

A Rocky Mountain News Point/Counterpoint stating that in a nation that values hard work and self-reliance, no one should have to work full-time for wages that leave a family in poverty. As a simple matter of fairness - and to strengthen families and encourage work - it is time to raise Colorado's minimum wage.

A Denver Post Sunday Perspective asserting that raising the minimum wage by voting for Amendment 42 is morally right and economically right.

The Montrose Daily Press reports on the effects of Amendment 42, which increased the minimum wage state-wide and indexed it to inflation, in the Montrose area.

A map of states that have increased their minimum wage or had an initiative on the ballot in 2006.