It’s amazing to see the progress that’s been achieved for hard working Mainers in the last few years. And I mean hard working: Mainers consistently work more hours on average than those in any other New England state. It was, however, not long ago (2015) that my Republican colleagues were asking Democrats to relax child labor laws in exchange for an increase in the minimum wage from $7.50 to $8. Now, the debate in Augusta is narrowly focused on the increase in wages, hugely favored by voters in 2016, and it’s purported strangle hold on rural economic development.
However, the struggles of economically depressed parts of Maine preceded the minimum wage law. First and foremost, there is no concerted organization or agency focused entirely on rural Maine. Funds for such an organization were eliminated in the 2006 Farm Bill at the federal level. A spin-off organization, Maine Rural Partners, failed to gain traction and closed in 2016. Revitalizing the rural Maine economy will not be solved by lowering minimum wage by 50 cents or paying young people, the smallest percentage of Maine’s workforce, less money. There needs to be a day after day commitment by a single entity to look at rural policy concerning such things as regional planning, small business loans, apprenticeship programs, access to emerging technologies, and tax incentives.
Secondly, we know looking at 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data that in nearly half of Maine’s counties between 25-49 percent of the residents live in poverty. Impoverished families create a barrier between Maine’s small businesses and long-term successes. Study after study concludes an impoverished workforce is less efficient and absenteeism rampant. It’s difficult to get the most out of an employee when anxiety concerning debt and bills linger, compounded by a lack of health insurance.
Controlling costs for small businesses in depressed areas of Maine should not be solved by extracting money from the already porous pockets of workers. In fact, businesses testifying before the legislature shared a multiplicity of factors holding them back and knocking them down. Settling on wages is a fictitious solution to a web of burdens: death rates increasing, birth rates decreasing, lack of access to capital, automation growth, crumbling or non-existent transportation infrastructure, and rising energy costs to name a few. I understand the business motive: any proposal to control costs is welcomed. Thus, it is unsurprising to observe the frenzy for the proposal before the committee. I do not, however, like the choice: you’re either with businesses or you’re with workers.
It’s an unfair ‘either or’ scenario. I do not want businesses in any part of our state, particularly rural Maine, to close up shop. At the same time, I do not want to chop up wages. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), full of really smart people, released a study concerning wages and expenses. In order for a single adult in Washington County to cover the costs of food, housing, transportation, medical, and miscellaneous expenses, she would need to earn $22,790 annually. In order to meet this, she would need to work 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year, earning $11 per hour. If she were to have a child, according to MIT’s research, expenses more than double and thus her wages would need to as well.
Why does this matter? If we know one thing, rural Maine businesses will not sustain themselves if the population continues its descent. Young people seeking to start families will follow the money. It is simply unrealistic to expect birth rates to increase in Washington County, for example, by supporting policy that stagnates wage growth.
With this being said, I know businesses in Washington County and others are looking at thinning margins. I am sure they’ve been thinning for some time now, well before the 2016 voter approved wage increases. This is why I believe the legislature ought to respond by exploring comprehensive policies that build up and relieve small rural businesses via tax incentives, interest-free small business loans, apprenticeship programs, regional planning grants, and much more.
We can put money back into our ever resilient rural businesses without taking money out of the pockets of Mainers who are working their rears off to get by. We can do this without the divisiveness of partisan politics and picking winners and losers. I know my colleagues are up to this enormous and most significant task.
State Rep. Ryan Fecteau of Biddeford represents District 11 in the Maine House of Representatives. He is House Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Labor, Commerce, Research, and Economic Development.
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