Friday, October 6, 2006

LaRocco says minimum wage is too low

Lieutenant governor candidate would champion higher wages


Photo by David N. Seelig

The average worker doesn't make enough money in Idaho, and Larry LaRocco said he'd like to do something about that.

LaRocco, the Democratic Party contender for the state's lieutenant governor position, said he'd start by working to have the minimum wage in Idaho raised by $1.

"It's really a moral issue that needs to be addressed," said LaRocco, who was in Ketchum Tuesday evening for a fund-raiser at the home of Barry and Linda Staum. Also present was U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who attended to help raise campaign funds.

LaRocco said the plight of average workers has been long ignored by Idaho political leaders, who too often cater to special interest groups. He acknowledged that bumping the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.15 per hour still doesn't make it a living wage, but is a move in the right direction.

Although minimum wage is a federal law, LaRocco said other surrounding states have passed their own wage-raising legislation and it's time for Idaho to do the same.

"We don't have to wait for the feds to move," LaRocco said. "Washington and Oregon have already done it, and burgers cost the same on either side of the border. It's a moral issue with me that we are so low, and I think it needs to be addressed."

LaRocco is running against Idaho Gov. Jim Risch, who has said that LaRocco is unrealistic about the power of the lieutenant governor position.

LaRocco counters that he wants to make the position something it hasn't been in the past.

"Jim Risch says I'm confused," LaRocco said. "But that's because he didn't do anything as lieutenant governor. He squandered his time." (Risch served as lieutenant governor before moving into the governor's job earlier this year when former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne became U.S. secretary of the Interior.)

LaRocco is also critical of Risch because Risch has declined to debate with him and has accused LaRocco of running a negative campaign.

"He's just upset that I'm running a campaign, that's all," LaRocco said. "I'm running a very aggressive campaign, a hands-on campaign, a very grass roots campaign. He's (Risch's) taking the Idaho voters for granted."

In his campaign, Risch has said he'll seek to focus on economic development in the state.

LaRocco, who describes himself as a moderate Democrat with an environmental leaning, is no newcomer to politics. He served two terms from 1990 to 1994 as a U.S. congressman. He worked as the North Idaho field representative for the late Sen. Frank Church in the 1970s, where he developed what he calls a "strong environmental ethic."

"I have a strong background in supporting environmental efforts," he said.

LaRocco said he supports the Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho.

On the economic front, LaRocco opposed the recently approved 1 cent sales tax increase and has lashed out at Risch, accusing him of helping special interests to the detriment of the average worker.

LaRocco said he favors aggressive economic development for Idaho's rural communities and thinks that education is the key to making it work.

"If we have a premier education system here, we won't have to worry about economic development," he said. "People will flock to our state. There has to be a massive retraining to make sure we have some of the skills to attract business here."

A way to achieve that is by expanding the community college system in Idaho to teach workers new skills, he said.

He said that too many people are working at cheap wages below the $10 an hour needed for a "living wage."

"We need good paying, high-quality jobs here," he said.




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