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FAST-GROWING<br />
GOVERNMENT AID<br />
FILLS THE GAP . . .<br />
Since 2000, the U.S. population has grown about<br />
15%, but the number of people receiving food<br />
stamps (formally known as the Supplemental<br />
Nutrition Assistance Program) has climbed<br />
157%. Medicaid enrollment has doubled. Just<br />
Capital estimates that the retail industry gets the<br />
equivalent of a multibillion-dollar annual subsidy<br />
from the federal government because of the<br />
income-boosting effects of SNAP, Medicaid and<br />
other programs on retail employees’ finances.<br />
Total U.S. enrollees (millions)<br />
70<br />
60<br />
50<br />
40<br />
30<br />
20<br />
10<br />
0<br />
2000<br />
2011<br />
2010<br />
2009<br />
2008<br />
2007<br />
2006<br />
2005<br />
2004<br />
2003<br />
2002<br />
2001<br />
2016<br />
2015<br />
2014<br />
20<strong>13</strong><br />
2012<br />
SNAP (food stamps)<br />
Medicaid<br />
Sources: Medicaid & CHIP Payment & Access Commission; USDA.<br />
BY THE NUMBERS<br />
Current minimum wage in the<br />
District of Columbia, highest in the<br />
U.S.:<br />
$11.50<br />
Legislated minimum wage in<br />
California for 2022:<br />
$15.00<br />
BUT GOVERNMENT<br />
LARGESSE IS<br />
IN DOUBT<br />
In April, Agriculture secretary<br />
Sonny Perdue told senators he<br />
wants to see SNAP’s food stamps<br />
administered “more efficiently and<br />
effectively.” It’s anyone’s guess<br />
how Congress and the Trump<br />
administration will ultimately<br />
resolve health care debates, but<br />
Medicaid cuts are an important part<br />
of many reform proposals.<br />
Expected effect of an early version of<br />
Trump’s health care bill on Medicaid outlays,<br />
according to the CBO.<br />
$0<br />
-25<br />
-50<br />
-75<br />
-100<br />
-125<br />
-150<br />
In billions of dollars<br />
2024<br />
2023<br />
2022<br />
2021<br />
2020<br />
2019<br />
2018<br />
<strong>2017</strong><br />
2026<br />
2025<br />
Sources: Congressional<br />
Budget Office; Staff of the<br />
Joint Committee on Taxation.<br />
CHARTS AND GRAPHS BY PETER AND MARIA HOEY FOR FORBES<br />
STATES RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE<br />
While the federal minimum wage hasn’t budged from $7.25 an hour since 2009, many<br />
state-specified floors are significantly higher—and are slated to keep rising.<br />
Washington<br />
$11.00<br />
Oregon<br />
$9.75<br />
Nevada<br />
$8.25<br />
California<br />
$10.50<br />
Idaho<br />
$7.25<br />
Alaska<br />
$9.80<br />
Montana<br />
$8.15<br />
Utah<br />
$7.25<br />
Arizona<br />
$10.00<br />
Wyoming<br />
$7.25<br />
N. Dakota<br />
$7.25<br />
Colorado<br />
$9.30<br />
New Mexico<br />
$7.50<br />
Hawaii<br />
$9.25<br />
Minnesota<br />
$9.50<br />
S. Dakota<br />
$8.65<br />
Nebraska<br />
$9.00<br />
Sources: Department of Labor;<br />
National Conference of State Legislatures.<br />
Kansas $7.25<br />
Iowa $7.25<br />
Oklahoma<br />
$7.25<br />
Texas<br />
$7.25<br />
Wisconsin<br />
$7.25<br />
Missouri<br />
$7.70<br />
Michigan<br />
$8.90<br />
Illinois<br />
$8.25 Indiana<br />
$7.25<br />
Arkansas<br />
$8.50<br />
Louisiana<br />
$7.25<br />
New York<br />
$9.70<br />
Ohio<br />
$8.15<br />
Kentucky<br />
$7.25<br />
Tennessee<br />
$7.25<br />
Alabama<br />
$7.25<br />
Mississippi<br />
$7.25<br />
States that have committed to<br />
further minimum wage raises<br />
States with annual cost-of-living<br />
adjustments to their minimum wage<br />
New Maine<br />
Hampshire $9.00<br />
$7.25 Massachusetts<br />
Vermont<br />
$11.00<br />
$10.00<br />
Connecticut<br />
$10.10<br />
Rhode Island<br />
$9.60<br />
Pennsylvania New Jersey $8.44<br />
$7.25<br />
Delaware $8.25<br />
W. Virginia<br />
Maryland $8.75<br />
$8.75 Virginia<br />
$7.25 D.C. $11.50<br />
N. Carolina $7.25<br />
Georgia<br />
$7.25 S. Carolina $7.25<br />
Federal<br />
Minimum<br />
Wage:<br />
$7.25<br />
Florida<br />
$8.10<br />
JUNE <strong>13</strong>, <strong>2017</strong> FORBES | 97
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