Cook: Hutchinson Won’t Take Stand On Minimum Wage Increase Ballot Measure

Raising Arkansas’s minimum wage is becoming one of the defining issues of the gubernatorial race between Mike Ross and Asa Hutchinson. Ross fully supports the initiated measure to raise the Arkansas minimum wage to $8.50 an hour. Hutchinson, well, we’re not exactly sure where he stands.

Hutchinson refuses to say if he supports or opposes the potential ballot measure which would gradually raise Arkansas’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour by 2017. But Hutchinson oddly opposes the very idea of Arkansans voting for themselves on this issue, saying he’d rather the State Legislature decide the issue.

On Monday, Ross’s campaign released video of Asa refusing to say whether or not he supported the effort to raise Arkansas’s minimum wage.

From the transcript of the video, which you can watch below:

Congressman Hutchinson: I would prefer that it be done by the legislature. Obviously, the voters are going to have a chance to act upon it and their wisdom is going to govern this. But, I would prefer that we not have to force initiated acts by the people to raise the minimum wage, but that it be done through the legislative process.

Hutchinson’s statement is one large word salad.

Hutchinson knows raising the minimum wage is extremely popular in Arkansas. A Talk Business-Hendrix College poll in April found that 79% of voters support raising the minimum wage.

But some of Hutchinson’s backers likely don’t support raising the minimum wage, which is why Hutchinson is wrapping himself into a word pretzel over the issue.

Moreover, Hutchinson’s stand, or non-stand is more like it, on the issue has created more problems than solutions.

First, Hutchinson’s refusal to take a stand on the issue makes him appear as a weak leader and possibly even opposed to a popular issue. Second, by declaring he’d rather the State Legislature raise the wage, he’s basically telling voters he just doesn’t trust them with their vote.

In short, Asa Hutchinson won’t take a stand on raising the minimum wage and he’d prefer if we didn’t get to vote on the issue. But Asa Hutchinson does support the idea of just letting the politicians in Little Rock decide if the minimum wage should be increased or not.

The minimum wage issue allows Ross to draw a clear contrast between himself and Hutchinson. Ross can say: “I support the measure raising Arkansas’s minimum wage, but my opponent refuses to give us a straight answer on where he stands. What Asa will say is basically he doesn’t trust you to vote on the issue. He’d rather the politicians in Little Rock decide whether or not Arkansas’s working families deserve a raise or not.”

Raising the minimum wage is a defining issue in the gubernatorial race, which will cause Hutchinson increased headaches until he takes a clearer stand on the matter.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQi2fGF7-pI]