Wage bill would
give yearly raise
■ State Rep. Bill Morrisette
wants minimum wage
increases tied to inflation
By Rebecca Newell
Oregon Daily Emerald
During college, every quarter,
nickel and dime counts for stu
dents. If state Rep. Bill Morrisette,
D-Springfield, succeeds in passing
a bill that ties minimum wage to in
flation, it will mean more precious
cash for working students.
While inflation drove up prices
during the past two years, mini
mum wage in Oregon hasn’t gone
up in response. If Morrisette’s bill
passes, the state Labor Commission
er would adjust the minimum wage
every year in September based on
changes in the Consumer Price In
dex (CPI) for Oregon. New wages
would go into effect every January.
“If we don’t index minimum
wage [with the CPI], we’re going to
fall behind,” Morrisette said. “My
philosophy is that it is good busi
ness to pay people enough to partic
ipate in the economy.”
Because the last minimum wage
increase was in 1999, the bill asks
for the Labor Commissioner tabase
next September’s calculations on
the CPI increase since Jan. 1, 1999.
Inflation since then has risen ap
proximately 6 percent, which
would result in minimum wage be
ing set at $6.87. If the CPI continues
to increase annually at about 3 per
cent, the minimum wage would
continue to increase 20 to 25 cents
annually.
“If people had a family wage job
— $17 an hour for a four-person
family — they would be paying tax
es back into the system,” Morrisette
said. “The reason businesses can
say we don’t need to raise minimum
wage is that they know the govern
ment has assistance programs and
can step in.”
If the bill passes, the increase
would mainly benefit minimum
► wage employees, but it could also
push up the wages of other workers.
At the University level, the in
crease would affect salaries of stu
dents with work-study positions
House Bill 2786
The bill would tie the Oregon mini
mum wage to the Consumer Price
Index. Under the bill, the state Labor
Commissioner would adjust the
minimum wage based upon the U.S.
City Average CPI for all urban areas.
The wage adjustment would go into
effect each January.
Because there has been no mini
mum wage increase since Jan. 1,
1999, the bill calls for the Labor
Commissioner to base next Septem
ber’s calculation on the CPI increase
since Jan. 1,1999, which would put
minimum wage at $6.87.
SOURCE: State Rep. Bill Morrisette
and could also have an effect on
classified staff.
“The last increase in minimum
wage pushed up the bottom of
[salaries for] the classified staff,
which is currently at $7.15 an
hour,” said Christine Lonigan, Uni
versity human resources employ
ment manager. “It would cost the
University more with the increase.”
Though the increase could result
in more money for individual stu
dents, it could also reduce the num
ber of jobs, depending on how de
partments absorb the increase,
Lonigan said.
But some students say that every
increase would help when living on
an already tight budget.
“At the University, they don’t let
you work more than 20 hours a
week and you can’t live off of that,”
said junior Clara Barnes, a political
science and economics major who
works at the Buzz Coffeehouse.
“[The increase] would help a lot be
cause minimum wage isn’t very
much.”
The bill is currently facing a com
mittee hearing in the state House of
Representatives. If it makes it to the
floor, there is a good chance of it
passing, Morrisette said.
“We’re asking for something rel
atively small and simple,” Mor
risette said. “It’s something we have
to keep working on, even if we’re
not sure it’s going to succeed.”
Voter registration
pressed in Oregon
SALEM — Secretary of State Bill
Bradbury says a centralized voter
registration system would help re
store confidence in the Oregon bal
lot after the entire election system
was tarnished nationwide by the
recent Florida presidential race fi
asco.
Bradbury testified Wednesday
before a House committee on a bill
that would direct his office to de
velop and implement a centralized
system for Oregon.
“Clearly there are significant is
sues with the perception of prob
lems with the electoral system,”
Bradbury said.
The House Rules, Redistricting
and Public Affairs Committee post
poned action on the bill, pending a
few technical amendments.
The centralized system would
create a database that would allow
county clerks to see if a voter has
registered in more than one county,
a concern that cropped up when
Oregon became the only state in the
nation to conduct its elections en
tirely by mail.
“In light of Florida, it is essential
that we elected officials do every
thing in our power to fully restore
the public trust in our electoral sys
tem,” Bradbury said.
With a centralized voter-registra
tion scheme, Bradbury added, the
state would also be able to reduce
the chance that someone might
vote twice. It also would improve
the accuracy of its information on
voters, he said.
The issue came before the Legis
lature even before the recent presi
dential election placed elections
procedures under public scrutiny.
In 1999, both the House and Senate
passed the same proposal, but the
project floundered because of a lack
of funding.
Glenn Newkirk, president of In
foSentry Services, was hired last
session to advise the secretary of
state’s office on the establishment
of a statewide voter registration sys
tem and warned then that some
thing like Florida’s nightmare
could happen.
“I told you so,” Newkirk said.
Associated Press
Not your average Joe
J
Adam Amato Emerald
Nothing says love like a six-foot Joe Sperm and an equally tall condom to match. Members of College Democrats and Students
For Choice sponsored a table in the EMU Amphitheater offering free condoms and other birth control to celebrate Valentine’s
Day and National Condom Day. Students For Choice co-director Sara Poynter said the event was specifically planned for Valen
tine’s Day, and the national holiday to increase birth control awareness just happened to fall on the same day.
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