A couple of weeks back I posted on a bill proposed by the NDGOP’s legislative leadership to raise North Dakota’s minimum wage.  At the time I put forward the idea that these supposedly conservative Republicans were just proposing a minimum wage hike because they believed a raise in the federal minimum was imminent with the Democrats in power.  They wanted to cash in on some public good will by jumping on the populist bandwagon.

Shortly thereafter, however, the fate of the federal minimum wage hike began to look grim.  Republicans are demanding significant tax relief for small businesses be included with any minimum wage hike, and while that tax relief was included in the minimum wage bill passed in the Senate, House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel is saying the amount of relief is far too much.  And Rangel has all the power he needs to keep any sort of reconciliation from happening in the House.

So the federal minimum wage hike very much in doubt, North Dakota’s Republicans passed a minimum wage bill...that only takes effect if Congress in D.C. raises the federal minimum.

The Minimum Wage in North Dakota will only go up if Congress approves an increase.

The Senate gave final approval to a state minimum wage bill.

It now goes to Governor Hoeven for his signature.

It’s intended to raise North Dakota’s minimum wage over two years from five dollars and fifteen cents an hour to seven twenty five an hour.

It doesn’t take effect unless Congress endorses an increase in the federal minimum wage.

Hoeven will almost certainly sign this into law, putting a cap on one of the silliest political maneuvers this observer has ever observed.  What, exactly, was accomplished by this?  Supporters of the minimum wage are going to wonder why, if Republicans truly supported raising the minimum, they just didn’t pass a bill which does that immediately?  Opponents of the minimum wage (the conservative base these Republicans count on for votes) are left scratching their heads as to why the people they voted for passed an impotent minimum wage hike rather than attempting to educate the public about the evils of the minimum wage?  Like the inflation and economic stagnation it causes, not to mention the unemployment it precipitates among low-wage workers.

Governor Hoeven, for the sake of his party, would be well-advised to sign this fiasco into law quickly so that it can be buried in posterity while the public’s attention moves on to other issues.