Senate kills minimum wage bill

The state Senate on Friday killed a proposal to set the state minimum wage at $6.15 per hour by voting to send the bill back to a closed committee.

The Republican-dominated Senate voted to return the measure to the judiciary committee, which has completed its business for the year.

Sen. Doug Jackson, a Democrat from Dickson who sponsored the measure to set the state’s minimum wage a dollar above the federal level, said the action was tantamount to killing the bill.

The Senate voted 17-12 along party lines to refer the bill to the committee. Speaker John Wilder, D-Mason, and Senate Finance Chairman Doug Henry, D-Nashville, abstained.

Sen. Steve Cohen, DMemphis, tried to call an immediate meeting of the committee to evaluate the bill, but the proposal was defeated along a party-line vote.

The House passed the measure on the 52-43 vote earlier Friday, with five Republicans voting for the measure and three Democrats voting against.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Curtis Person, R-Memphis, cited an enforcement mechanism within the proposal as the reason for sending the bill to committee. Unless the committee is reopened before the session ends, the bill would die.

“Don’t tuck your tail and run and hide behind a procedure,” said Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis. “Stand for what you believe in.”

Senate Republicans did not debate the merits of the bill.

The Senate quickly dispatched with the bill, in contrast to the House, which spent two hours debating 14 amendments, adopting six of them and approving the bill.

“I’m very disappointed in that,” said Rep. Mike Turner, the House sponsor. “A lot of states have passed this bill. I thought it was time to do it in our state.

The Old Hickory Democrat promised not to stop trying to get the measure passed.

“I’m sure we’ll come back next year,” he said.

Democrats have indicated they could use Republican votes against the minimum wage in campaigns this fall.

Gov. Phil Bredesen was initially skeptical about the measure, but he has since decided to swing his support behind the proposal, citing the decreasing purchasing power of the federal minimum wage because of inflation.

Lawmakers supporting the measure said it’s necessary because Tennessee is among only six states that don’t have a minimum wage. The $5.15 federal minimum wage has not been adjusted since 1997.

But some lawmakers and the business lobby believe the increase would hurt small businesses or restaurants that are struggling to overcome high overhead costs.

“Legislation like this is going to put them out of business,” said Republican Steve McDaniel of Parkers Crossroads, who successfully passed an amendment that exempts restaurants, or “tipped employees,” from the increase.

Turner, however, disagreed with the proposal.

“There’s a lot of people in the restaurant industry trying to survive on tips,” he said. “We need to do something for them too.”

Another amendment that was adopted would make sure that only legal immigrants receive minimum wage. Glen Casada, R-College Grove, called his measure “a demagnetization of illegal immigration” in Tennessee.

One rather odd amendment that failed would have raised the minimum wage to $25. Rep. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, said he proposed the amendment because he wanted to show that “meddling with our economy has serious consequences.”

Rep. Ulysses Jones, a Memphis Democrat, called the measure “ridiculous.”