AUSTIN – The Texas Public Policy Foundation has issued the following statements on the news that the San Antonio city council will consider a proposal to increase the minimum wage for all part-time and full-time municipal employees to $13 per hour.
“The City of San Antonio is deeply in debt, having amassed more than $17 billion in total debt as of fiscal year 2014. Rather than entertaining failed ideas that will push up the price of labor and increase the cost of government, city leaders ought to be looking for ways to lower operating expenses and cut spending,” said James Quintero, director of the Center for Local Governance.
“San Antonio is not exempt from the laws of economics,” said Dr. Vance Ginn, a staff economist in the Center for Fiscal Policy. “If San Antonio leaders raise the minimum wage, then more resources will be taken from productive private sector activities and diverted into non-productive public sector uses, resulting in fewer jobs created and a less productive economy than would have been otherwise.”
To schedule an interview with Mr. Quintero or Dr. Ginn, please contact Olivia Gustin at [email protected] or 512-472-2700.
James Quintero is director of the Center for Local Governance at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Vance Ginn, Ph.D., is an Economist in the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.