Tuesday was Ohio Primary day. But one significant state issue is still fighting just to make it onto the ballot come November’s general election: a constitutional amendment to raise the state minimum wage to $6.85 with an index that would adjust that number to keep pace with inflation.

On Monday, Zach Schiller, research director at the non-profit Policy Matters Ohio, came to Oberlin to explain the rationale behind this change.

“[Our goal is] to show factually why it’s a reasonable idea,” said Schiller. He explained that the federal minimum wage is currently $5.15 and has been since 1997.

“That’s a long time for a minimum wage to last,” said Schiller. “Usually they go up every few years. Congress hasn’t seen fit to raise it and, as a result, [the minimum wage’s] value is the lowest it has been in 50 years.”

According to Schiller, this congressional inaction has inspired heavily increased action at the state level. In March there were 20 states that had enacted their own state minimum wages, and the recent addition of Arkansas makes 21.

“Interestingly, these states aren’t faraway states with different economies from Ohio,” said Schiller. He cited Michigan as an example.

“It’s a state very similar to Ohio and with almost worse economic problems,” said Schiller. “Their Republican legislature raised the minimum wage.”

Schiller stressed that, while Policy Matters Ohio isn’t a partisan organization, in Ohio “as far as objective reality goes, Republicans in this area wanted to somehow deal with a state minimum wage in a way that it wouldn’t be as effective.”

Ohio currently has a state minimum wage ($4.25) that is lower than the federal. Recently, legislators voted to raise it to the federal, but it is not yet law.

Schiller discussed the arguments people often use against raising the minimum wage.

“The typical argument is that we are going to drive people out of business,” he said. “I think there’s an appealing logic to the notion that it’s going to be a job-killer. To say these arguments are questionable would be putting it mildly.”

Schiller said that in those states that had adopted a higher minimum wage, there had been no noticeable difference in business growth. In some cases there had been positive effects on job growth. The Fiscal Policy Institute in New York has a theory called the Henry Ford Effect: If you pay people more, they can pay for what they’re making. This is how markets are made.

Another counter-argument is that the wage change mostly affects students who don’t support a family and don’t need an increase in wages. Schiller gave numbers to dispel this theory: 297,000 workers would be benefited by this change and 74 percent of this group is over 20. About one in seven have children. In 38 percent of affected families, one minimum wage makes up the entire week’s earnings. Another 423,000 workers would probably receive a raise through a ripple effect.

“It’s erroneous to cast this as people working for ‘pin money,’” said Schiller.

Schiller believes the raise to $6.85 isn’t a big enough increase.

“No one’s going to say that...this is a true living wage,” said Schiller. “But at least it’s a step in the right direction.”

Next, Katie Gall from the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now spoke with the intention of recruiting students to collect petition signatures. Putting the amendment on the ballot requires 322,000 signatures of registered Ohio voters.

Gall spoke hopefully of the campaign, citing the successful raise of the minimum wage in Florida, which passed with 67-72 percent of the state’s support.

“If the Florida experience is any indicator, this [initiative] is popular across geographic lines,” said Gall.

Lorain County must generate 3000 signatures by August for the amendment to show up on the November ballot.