The leader of the state’s Chamber of Commerce is pushing back on the Governor’s plan to raise minimum wage.
Gene Barr says that the move would result in businesses having to cut how many hours people work.
“At a time when we continue to try and move this economy forward, injecting a higher minimum wage that is twice what it is now, would have an adverse effect on smaller businesses, because that’s where a bulk of the minimum wage jobs are,” Barr said.
Barr said the chamber believes in a tax credit for workers instead of raising wages.
“We’ve advocated in the past something on an earned income tax credit that would more directly target the help to people who need it,” Barr said.
The Governor has made raising the minimum wage one of his priorities in the budget this year.