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Minimum Wage: A Matter of Local Control?

John Pemble

In all but four Iowa counties, employers must pay a minimum wage of $7.25/hour - the same as the federal minimum wage.

Recently, Johnson, Linn, Polk and Wapello Counties struck out on their own and passed resolutions to raise their minimum wage above that level. Now, the Iowa legislature is in the process of reigning in those counties by passing a GOP-led measure that would ban individual counties from deciding their own minimum wages.

On this legislative day edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer and co-host Joyce Russell talk with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to find out why this bill has been proposed, what the arguments are against it, and its likelihood of reaching the governor's desk.

Also, in the first half of the show, they host a discussion on a proposal that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Discussing Senate File 471 (banning abortion after 20 weeks) are the following guests: Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell (D), of Ames; Jenifer Bowen, the executive director of Iowa Right to Life; and Amanda Acton, a Waukee resident who spoke against the bill last Tuesday (3/21) at an Iowa Senate subcommittee, who also is a grant writer for Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

And, discussing House File 295 (prohibiting counties from passing individual minimum wage ordinances) are the following guests: Sen. Tony Bisignano (D), of Des Moines; and Rep. Zach Nunn (R), of Bondurant.

Ben Kieffer is the host of IPR's River to River