Democrats discuss wage hike in Moscow

So many people filed into the Great Room of Moscow's 1912 Center to hear Idaho 5th District Rep. Paulette Jordan, D-Plummer, and House Minority Leader Mat Erpelding, D-Boise, speak Saturday that the tables were collapsed to create space for more rows of chairs.

The pizza could have attracted folks as well.

Jordan and Erpelding discussed hot state topics like minimum wage, gun laws and decriminalizing marijuana at a "Pizza and Politics" forum hosted by the Latah County Democratic Central Committee.

Erpelding said a bill was drafted and released Friday that would incrementally increase Idaho's minimum wage from the federal rate of $7.25 to $8.50, then $10.25 and temporarily stop at $12 an hour. He said the minimum wage would be attached to the Consumer Price Index so that minimum wage would increase as inflation occurs in Idaho.

"A lot of us feel that it is really unethical to pay somebody a wage that forces them onto government subsidies of any kind," Erpelding said.

Read more: http://dnews.com/local/dems-discuss-wage-hike/article_50378dcd-907d-5a79-aaf0-d0993855963b.html