If you’ve been keeping up with news lately, you’ve likely heard about North Carolina’s new anti-LGBT law enacted by the state’s Republicans. The law, HB2, repealed an ordinance passed by the Charlotte City Council that allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of their choosing, along with other protections. The law also prevents cities from creating new nondiscrimination ordinances and supersedes those already on the books. Amazingly, the new bill made it through the General Assembly in less than 12 hours. So much for small government.
However, one aspect of the law that is not getting nearly as much attention is its minimum wage provision. This section of the law also prevents local governments from setting a minimum wage level higher than the state level of $7.25. Understandably, almost all of the attention on this new law, locally and nationally, has focused on the terrible consequences it will have on the LGBT community in North Carolina, but it is important to note all of the damaging aspects of this law.
North Carolina’s poverty rate is over 17%, placing it in the top 15 most impoverished states. An increase in the minimum wage, even locally, would be beneficial to working-class people and families. While Republican leaders are against raising the minimum wage, there is bipartisan support around the state among everyday citizens. State lawmakers know they likely couldn’t have passed wage restrictions alone without backlash so they instead attach them to an anti-LGBT bill, and let that draw all the attention from their wage tricks.
No one should be surprised at the conduct of the Republican party in North Carolina, but it seems that they are determined to go lower and lower each time. It is imperative that liberals around the state turnout on Election Day if they want to prevent their state officials from denying even more people their rights.
Featured image via Flikr by Mark Goebel available under a Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Generic license
