Republicans admit the need for minimum-wage hike — but only for themselves

Iowa House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann is calling for an increase in legislators’ base salaries to $35,000. The same proposal failed to make it to the Governor’s desk in 2024. Legislators’ current pay of $25,000 went into effect in 2007 and hasn't been adjusted for inflation or the rising cost of living since that time.   

Kaufmann makes a solid point that low pay for legislators makes it hard for non-wealthy, working-age Iowans to serve.

But somehow, that logic only extends as far as the State Capitol grounds.

He and other proponents fail to acknowledge that same reality for low-wage workers across Iowa. For years, state Republicans have refused to budge on increasing the state minimum wage of $7.25, even as the majority of our neighboring states, red and blue alike, have chosen differently. Iowa's minimum has been in place since January 2008 — nearly as long as legislators’ base pay. (Legislators in leadership positions make more than their rank-and-file colleagues.)

Let’s be clear on the stakes. State legislators only work at the Capitol about a third of the year, but their current salary of $25,000 is more than a minimum-wage worker earns for a whole year’s work.

So, yes, let’s increase the minimum wage and index it to rise with inflation in subsequent years — for legislators and for the Iowa families and workers who need it most.

Read more in our new fact sheet,
“Want to address affordability? Increase the minimum wage.”