It’s Labor Day, 2006, a fitting time to review the state of wages and healthcare in the Beehive State. Unfortunately, things do not look good, especially on the healthcare front.

According to a recently released Census Bureau report, Utah saw the largest increase in uninsured citizens as a percentage of population of any state in the country last year. 15.5% of our fellow Utahns now live without healthcare coverage. That is still below the national average, but only by 0.2%.

When it comes wage growth, we can honestly say we fair better than most in that at least Utahns have seen a little increase in the fruits of their labor in the last six years. Since 2000, the average Utahn’s household income is up 1.6% in 2005 dollars, or about $912 a year. Nationally household income has plunged $1,273, so from that perspective we can consider ourselves lucky. Unfortunately, most if not all of that extra $912 has been eaten up this year by higher gas prices.

As we celebrate Labor Day 2006 and move into the final stretch of the 2006 election season, it’s worth remembering the fate of two bills in the 2006 legislative session. One would have established a state minimum wage raising the hourly pay of our lowest paid workers to $7.00 an hour. The other would have opened up the Public Employees Health Plan (PEHP) to small businesses giving them access to affordable health insurance their employees could benefit from. Neither made it out of committee. Hopefully Labor Day 2007 will see both of these bills enacted into law.