Maximum effort on minimum wage drive

As RaiseIdaho's founder, I would like to officially thank all the volunteers and organizations who participated in our effort to bring raising the minimum wage to a higher level discussion for citizens throughout Idaho. Together we brought awareness to the fact that Idaho has the highest percentage of minimum wage workers and lowest median wages in the nation. We gained much strength over the strong effort of 11 months that we gathered registered voter signatures. So many people thanked us and gave us hugs. We gained national attention as a state for something good. A state who could be aware enough of the national problem of poverty and lack of living wage jobs.

Every moment of volunteer effort was heartwarming. Because Idahoans no matter what their party affiliation really did care about each other. They really did believe that in the richest democracy in the world hard workers over the age of 18 should not have to humble themselves to go to the food bank and ask for handouts just to survive. And young adults should be able to "work their way up" without huge debt.

Between 69 and 80 percent of the people we talked with all over the state really supported this measure coming to the ballot, so the people of Idaho could decide. The only reason we did not succeed was that the people in Idaho are not fully politically activated yet. And we did not have enough people who were brave enough to go door to door to get signatures.

This is an ongoing human rights, non-partisan story and one we will be discussing in much more detail in the coming legislative session, and in many community forums. All the people who worked together should be truly pleased with Idaho. We have begun this underlying discussion about work and its value in the communities that we live in. This is what politics is all about. The debate of real problems, and sometimes being brave enough to bring those problems out into the open forum for debate. You cannot solve problems without debate. Ignoring problems does not help.

You cannot too long ignore the fact that less money is circulating in local economies when wages are too low. You cannot ignore the fact that the Federal minimum wage for employees of especially large businesses removes profit from our state. $7.25 per hour, often limited to less than 40 hours per week, is not enough to pay for rent, heat and lights and other basic services relating to health, a meager food budget that is taxed, a used car and the gas to get you to work, and the communication costs of just a simple phone (since you most likely cannot afford a computer). You cannot ignore the fact that Idaho families increasingly cannot afford the continuing education they need to better themselves when the cost of that education in any field has gone up with inflation and higher (25 percent), due to primarily a lack of state funding.

But most of all you cannot too long ignore the fact that our citizens, communities and our state government must be more involved together in solving the real problems we all face.

Anne Nesse of Coeur d'Alene is founder of Raise Idaho: RaiseIdaho.org.