Monday, 6.15.15 ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net views VIEWS PAGE:
[email protected] PAGE 4 PRESS&DAKOTAN The Press Dakotan THE DAKOTAS’ OLDEST NEWSPAPER | FOUndED 1861 Yankton Media, Inc., 319 Walnut St., Yankton, SD 57078 CONTACT US OPINION OTHER VIEWS PHONE: (605) 665-7811 (800) 743-2968 Minimum Wage NEWS FAX: (605) 665-1721 ADVERTISING FAX: (605) 665-0288 And Real Progress WEBSITE: MCCOOK GAZETTE (June 1): Nebraska’s minimum wage is go- www.yankton.net ing to $9, far below the $15 some activists are demanding, so it was ––––– interesting to see a study published by the National Low-Income SUBSCRIPTIONS/ Housing Coalition about the cost of living. CIRCULATION According to the study, the average Nebraskan would have to Extension 104 work 54 hours at a minimum wage to afford a one-bedroom apart- CLASSIFIED ADS ment. Extension 108 Of course, that average includes Lincoln and Omaha, where rents Capitol Notebook
[email protected] are higher, and sets the amount the average minimum-wage worker NEWS DEPT. would spend on housing at 30 percent of income — probably far Extension 114 less than most minimum-wage workers spend when they get out of
[email protected] their parents’ homes. More, More, More: SPORTS DEPT. On the other hand, minimum-wage jobs that allow workers to Extension 106 put in 54 hours are few and far between because of the benefits and
[email protected] overtime pay required. ADVERTISING DEPT. Nebraska minimum-wage workers have it great compared to Extension 122 New Yorkers, who would have to put in 98 hours, the District of SD Needs Gambling
[email protected] Columbia, Maryland and New Jersey, around 100 hours or more, BUSINESS OFFICE or California, 92 hours — or even worse, Hawaii, where one would BY BOB MERCER For every dollar lost in the privately owned Extension 119 have to work 125 hours for a one-bedroom apartment.