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Groups urge separation of minimum wage, estate tax proposals in Congress Friday, Aug 4, 2006 By Rob Moritz Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - A coalition of groups urged Arkansas' two U.S. senators Thursday to separate a proposed federal minimum wage increase from a proposal to cut the federal estate tax. Spokesmen for Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., said Thursday afternoon that the senators were still undecided on how they would vote on the bill. House Resolution 5970, the Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act of 2006, passed the House earlier this week and was expected to be voted on in the Senate late Thursday or early today. During a news conference at the state Capitol, Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, described the bill as "bad for America and bad for the children and families of Arkansas." "It makes no sense to gut the estate tax at the same time we are fighting cuts in health care, education, job training, Head Start and other programs that low-income children and families depend on," Huddleston said. Huddleston's organization supports raising the federal minimum wage. Alan Hughes, president of the Arkansas AFL-CIO, said cutting the estate tax would benefit 168 wealthy families in Arkansas and about 8,000 across the nation. Raising the minimum wage to $7.25 over three years would benefit about 126,000 Arkansans and about 6.6 million people nationally, Hughes said. "We know that if they turn around and the pass the estate tax (cut) with this, you're talking about cuts in federal programs," Hughes said. "Once they come up and realize they have already increased the deficit and with a budget already out of control, there will be cuts made." Also speaking against the bill was the Rev. Stephen Copley, the leader of a coalition of groups that pushed for a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the state minimum wage earlier this year. Copley's group, Give Arkansas a Raise Now, abandoned its effort after the Legislature in an April special session raised the state's minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.25 an hour. The new wage takes effect Oct. 1. Copley said people need a minimum wage hike to offset rising gas prices and other costs. He described it as "a moral and faith" issue. Candis Collins, associate director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 38, and Rich Hutchinson, government relations director for the Arkansas Education Association, also spoke at the news conference urging Arkansas' senators to separate the two measures. |
