OPINION: Protect small businesses — vote no on Ballot Measure 1

Small businesses in Alaska have been struggling since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and, should Ballot Measure 1 become law, any progress made would deteriorate quickly.

Ballot Measure 1 would change Alaska’s current minimum wage and paid leave laws and violate current federal law that protects small business owners’ free speech rights to communicate with their employees on labor issues. To add insult to injury, this trifecta of increased regulation and burdensome cost is not coming from the lawmakers duly elected by the people of our state, but from out-of-state interests, including a labor union from New York City and two special interest groups from Washington, D.C., that use dark money to advance their own agendas. To do this, they are using Alaska’s initiative process against its own citizens by going around the Alaska Legislature.

If passed, Measure 1 will impact small businesses, firms with fewer than 20 employees, more than any sector in our state. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, Alaska small businesses employ 52.4% of the private workforce. Unlike big businesses, small business owners do not have employees solely dedicated to work on compliance, payroll, record keeping, etc., and often must manage these tasks themselves or outsource them at great cost. Ballot Measure 1 will throw a wet blanket on the sector that provides more than half the jobs in the state and will result in job loss and higher prices for all Alaskans.

Raising the minimum wage: Small businesses are the least able to absorb mandatory increases in their labor costs. The minimum wage directly affects small businesses, because much of their revenue goes directly to pay for operating expenses such as equipment, inventory, and employee wages and benefits. Workers suffer because mandatory wage increases deny more low-skilled workers the opportunity to get a job and receive on-the-job training. For most small businesses, the only way to respond is to stop hiring, lay off current employees, or cancel raises for existing workers.

Mandated paid leave: Alaska workers already get one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked and are allowed to accrue 56 hours a year if the employer has 15 or more employees, and accrue and use 30 hours a year if the employer has fewer than 15 employees. This employment law was created by Alaskans here in our Legislature after debate and consideration of what would work in our state, not by Ballot Measure 1′s out-of-state backers: The Fairness Project and Sixteen Thirty Fund (Washington D.C.) and Unite Here (New York City).

Prohibit employee meetings: While labor interests claim they are protecting the constitutional rights of employees, Ballot Measure 1 will impose a “gag order” on employers by violating employers’ right to free speech protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. This proposal is also in violation of the National Labor Relations Board standards that preempt state law and would open the door for employees to refuse to attend meetings or events that are necessary to perform their work responsibilities.

Measure 1 will drive small businesses to the bottom in terms of increased costs and regulations, and it will drive employment in Alaska to the bottom as more small businesses will be forced to cut or eliminate jobs to absorb these costs. All these consequences will result in higher prices and less opportunity for all Alaskans.

Stand with Alaska small businesses and the jobs they provide by voting no on Ballot Measure 1.

Daniel J. Young is a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist in Eagle River.

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