Dem’s minimum wage increase to benefit students causing service cuts for students.

Remember the minimum wage increase promoted by State Democrats and passed by voters? Democrats poo-poohed arguments that it mainly benefitted high school and college students who are working these low wage, part-time positions while they also go to school.

Well, here’s a real world example of exactly who the measure is hurting. In the January 14th edition of the SDSU Collegeian student newspaper, the top of the fold story is titled “New Minimum Wage Affects Union Hours”  and discusses how the SDSU Student Union has been forced to cut hours so as to remain on budget directly as a result of the minimum wage:

Students learned this week that the Union will close at 10 p.m. daily. This cuts two hours off of the former hours in order to adjust, for the minimum wage increase that went into effect Jan. 1 according to this week’s Monday morning message sent out by Students’ Association President, Caleb Finck.

and…

In order to compensate for the minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $8.50 per hour, Novotny along with other administration, including the Student Union Advisory Committee, had to make changes in the facility, Novotny said The. changes need to compensate for a total of $30,000 in student labor.

and..

If The Union goes back to closing at midnight next year, funding for the facility will have to increase. This money will most likely come from a General Activity Fee increase, meaning that students will have to pay more to keep the building open later.

Read it all here.

Cutting hours to remain on budget… and if they want those hours back, they’re going to face a general activity fee increase, pushing their tuition up higher.

Cuts in services and increased tuition fees. All I have to say is to remind them to remember who made this happen. The South Dakota Democrat Party.

29 thoughts on “Dem’s minimum wage increase to benefit students causing service cuts for students.”

  1. Pat,

    This can’t be true. An increase in minimum wages would have no negative effect. We were promised.

    Sidebar: Kid Rock’s recent Tweet:

    “(Firetruck) you Michael Moore, you’re a piece of (excrement) and your uncle would be ashamed of you. Seth Rogen, your uncle probably molested you. I hope both of you catch a fist to the face soon. God bless you Chris Kyle, Thank you for your service.”

  2. An absolute tragedy for the many thousands of SDSU students who needed to be in the union from 10 pm to midnight.

    1. It doesn’t impact you so it must be negligible, correct? Typical of lefties-so long as I am okay, my kids, grandkids, and everyone else can go to he**. The ego-centricity of liberals is always so evident.

  3. The law of unintended consequences cannot be repealed.

    Although, in this case, this was a predicted result.

    TANSTAAFL!

  4. Upon further read of the actual article (and not just the normal tiny sliver of context provided by the blog), the cutbacks in hours really appear to be more a Republican-based ideology than Democratic.

    The ideology: CUT THE BUDGET! Quit wasting money keeping a facility open for just a handful of people.

    I believe that Cut The Budget – Quit Wasting Money commentary is what we have all been hearing over the years from many Republican commentators. Isn’t it?

    On the flip side, it will be great to own a store where the employees who get a raise do their shopping. More expandable income. Or perhaps a few of those people will use the extra money to borrow less. I think those are great Republican ideas, too. Aren’t they?

    1. the people in charge of running the student union don’t have an ‘r’ or ‘d’ problem, it’s a total cashflow problem. they lose money they lose their jobs. they can only offer as much service and fte/pte hours as they have revenues to pay for. wow. thought that was obvious.

    2. “On the flip side, it will be great to own a store where the employees who get a raise do their shopping.” In Aberdeen there is a shop that sells great food, especially frozen treats. A lot of kids come there to get those frozen treats. Now that they have more money in their pockets from their part time jobs, they have the ability to purchase more of those frozen treats. But wait! According to one of my students who works there, the prices have been increased to pay the employees who work there the increase in labor the shop has had to endure. The kids cannot afford to purchase more of those frozen treats. So how has that shop benefited? Their margins are the same. TANSTAAFL. Google it. Read the story.

    3. Expandable income would be income that expands; I think you mean expendable. Try to get it right.

    4. There isn’t more expendable income for those with increased wages….because their hours were cut. Many of us have said this all along…that you can’t create money out of nothing.

  5. American Oligarchy,

    Your ignorance is amazing. Student Unions are set up as separate entities with the “losses” associated with the providing the amenities made up in student fees. Taxpayers subsidize tuition and to a smaller degree room. Student fees fill the gap between expenses and revenue.

    Adding 15% to the labor cost via the minimum wage increase, under the parameters of the STUDENT UNION existence was going to add to expenses, necessarily requiring to come from students via either increased meal costs, increased student fees, or reduction in hours of being open.

    So, what is occurring at the colleges is also occurring at fast food establishment, tighter labor management costs via mostly lower hours worked. I’m sure that the student union “business” is struggling with the high cost of protein (hamburger and chicken) which has been more than they have been able to pass on through higher costs.

    1. Troy, is it true that we have been hearing Republicans putting out the concept that we should be trying to cut budgets and quit wasting money?

      1. Another Republican concept. Adapt. Improvise. Overcome. Well, that’s a Marine concept, but it may as well be a Republican concept.

        Or is it better to whine when you don’t get your way when a large majority of the voters in your state disagree with you?

        PLEASE pick one. If you’re going to whine about it, go ahead, but don’t be acting all tough. Or you can adapt, improvise and overcome and be an adult about it. But then you have to quit whining. What a conundrum!

  6. The college concessions are leased to outside groups. You see their names as sponsors of the athletic programs. Maybe they could cut back on sponsorships instead cutting employee hours.

    1. the story says college officials calculated that the minimum wage law would cause a budget overrun of $30-thousand in the student employment budget, and these work study students are who work the extra open hours. cost growth without revenue growth in a non-profit situation must result in staff and hour cutbacks.

      1. I think that was for the entire university. Did you notice that serving those handful of students was also wasting $6,000 a year on energy costs?

        1. “The Union had to make changes in order to keep to the budget set for the current fiscal year, or in other words, the next six months, Finck said. The budget for The Union is set in advance for the following year.”

          the reduction in hours by closing at 10PM instead of midnight is to make up for the shortfall of $30-thousand in work-study money under the new wage structure. the $6000 mentioned will be a windfall surplus of utility budget money which accrues from the earlier closing time. utility budgeting is different than wage budgeting, and a windfall could be eaten up by unforseen cost increases pertaining to utilities.

  7. Olly, Olly, aint too smart,

    Let me talk real slow so you might understand.

    The Student Union spends Student’s money. The additional cost from wage increase is their money. I don’t care how they manage their money.

    No wonder you think Obama is a good President. You both live in stupidville.

  8. I look forward to AFP spending that 900 million to put the middle and low income brackets in their place. David and Charles are right. The greatest threat to our country is the vote of the people.

  9. Stupid is what stupid says. He was smoking something during economics and math class. I would just move on Troy and let him keep posting as to remove all doubt as to his understanding of basic economics and math.

    1. This is stupid?

      Republicans have been touting their idea to cut budgets and quit wasting money?

      Republicans have the ability to adapt, improvise and overcome?

      I guess you’re right. That is stupid.

      1. Sure. Cut budgets. Quit wasting money. Define “waste.”

        Ah. There’s the rub.

        The Student Union is adapting and overcoming – they are cutting hours in order to overcome the additional expense imposed on them by the initiated measure raising the minimum wage.

        The problem, if it is a problem, is that the lefties who pushed that initiated measure promised it would have no effect on employment, that the money would somehow just materialize out of nowhere or that the “fat cats” who own the businesses would simply accept lower profits and, out of the goodness of their hearts, meet the new, higher, minimum wage.

        Whether it was through ignorance or dishonesty, those Democrats who pushed the measure were wrong. Those who said it was foolish and would cost jobs, hours, wages, and/or result in higher prices were correct.

        In other words, advocating for an increase in the minimum wage was a way of shafting the poor while feeling good about it.

    2. ‘Stupid is what stupid says.’

      You are so stupid. It’s ‘stupid is as stupid does’. Derp

        1. Sure, because you know the meaning of everything. And mincing words to change a line from a movie makes you super smart. Way to go Forrest!

  10. Plenty of verbiage for a problem brought to us by “The South Dakota Democrat Party” ! I’ve just spent the past two months reading here about the stranglehold of brilliance the Republicans have on South Dakota politics and only to be outdone by the blind wandering zombie Democrats of South Dakota. Any progress to report on how the State is addressing the ballot procedures for Initiated Measures and Amendments ? (Referendum excluded) A statewide measure should merit a county diversity of signatures or submitted signatures should not be overly represented ? Proper weights and percentages can be debated. If an Initiated Measure or Amendment is worth the time and effort, hire a crew, get in your car and enjoy the South Dakota experience. This would preserve today’s South Dakota and insulate South Dakota from the sometimes not so South Dakota ideas from parts known and unknown. No need in kidding yourselves, the back door has been found to be unlocked and remains wide open.

    INITIATIVE PETITIONS
    5% of most recent vote for Governor. With deadline for submission of signatures.

    REFERENDUM PETITIONS
    5% of most recent vote for Governor. File within 90 days after adjournment of legislature at which the law was passed.

    INITIATED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
    10% of most recent vote for Governor. With deadline for submission of signatures.

    1. You’re absolutely right. South Dakota is a HEAVILY Republican state, made even worse at the legislative level by decades of gerrymandering.

      One symptom of being heavily Republican and conservative is your position as one of the biggest welfare states in the US.

      So why do all the Republicans vote for this liberal idea? Because it makes sense to most people.

      Across the country in the gerrymandered states, Republicans won the legislative battles, but on almost every single issue that has to do with general, non-manipulated voting districts, (statewide issues) progressivel ideas won the day.

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