BATON ROUGE — The House Labor Committee voted 7-5 along party lines Tuesday to kill a bill that would have established a state minimum wage starting at $12 an hour on Jan. 1, 2027.
Republicans voted against the bill and Democrats supported it, a split similar to votes in most years since former Gov. John Bel Edwards began pushing to set a wage above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.
Louisiana is one of five states without a state minimum wage. Employers instead default to the federal minimum of $7.25, unchanged since 2009.
House Bill 353, by Rep. Tammy Phelps, D-Shreveport, would have raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029 and included cost-of-living increases beginning in 2031.
Supporters raised concerns about the effect of low wages on residents' ability to afford basic necessities and on economic development, with some arguing that Louisiana has lost workers to neighboring states that offer higher pay. Arkansas raised its minimum wage to $11 an hour in 2021.
Advocates also argued that keeping wages low forces workers to rely on public assistance, effectively shifting costs to taxpayers.
"By keeping wages low, we keep residents on social benefits," said Melissa Flournoy, chairwoman of 10,000 Women Louisiana, a civic advocacy group.
Support for the bill came from a range of witnesses, with strong backing from members of the NAACP. Ten-year-old activist Caitlin Peoples also testified.
"I may be 10 years old, but I know that work should be a chance to live, not just survive," Peoples said.
Opponents argued that a higher minimum wage could trigger a ripple effect harmful to businesses and employment.
Rep. Roger Wilder III, R-Denham Springs, said higher wages could lead to higher consumer prices, reduced hiring, and increased automation of entry-level jobs, pointing to California, where he said 18,000 jobs were lost following wage increases.
Leah Long, Louisiana and Mississippi director of the National Federation of Independent Business, told the committee that the minimum wage was never intended to be a living wage.
"If anything, it is an inspiration for someone to improve to earn a higher wage," Long said.
Rep. Brian Glorioso, R-Slidell, argued that improving workforce training and education is a more effective approach to addressing poverty than raising the minimum wage.
The debate reflected a broader disagreement over the purpose of the minimum wage: whether it should provide a wage workers can live on or serve as a starting point that encourages upward mobility. Supporters argued that Louisiana workers deserve wages that reduce reliance on government assistance, while opponents contended that artificially higher wages could raise consumer prices and hurt small businesses.
