La. among just five states without a minimum wage

Louisiana lawmakers have already killed a pair of bills this legislative session that would have set a minimum wage in the state for the first time. One of the bills would have set the minimum at $8.25 an hour, and the other would have put it at it $10. That leaves Louisiana as just one of five states in the country that doesn’t have a minimum wage, according to 24/7 Wall St., a Delaware-based financial news and opinion website. The four other states that have not adopted a state minimum are Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. By federal law, states may establish their own minimum wage levels; however, if the state minimum is different from the federal minimum, the higher wage rate applies. So why wouldn’t a state want to set a minimum wage, or why would they set one that is lower than the federal minimum of $7.25 (as is the case in four states: Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota and Wyoming)? In a word, says 24/7 Wall St., politics. “Business owners and lobbyists prevailed with their arguments that businesses like restaurants and other retailers operate on thin margins and cannot afford to pay more. Businesses, it was argued, either have to raise prices, threatening their sales, or they have to cut expenses, by firing workers presumably,” the site explains of Louisiana lawmakers’ rejection of setting a minimum wage. USA Today has a full story on minimum wage variances by state.