Senate Bill 2 would hike minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.
Wisconsin needs a minimum wage increase.
That’s according to State Senate Democrat Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling announced a Wisconsin Families First agenda in January.
“Democrats want to help build an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy and well connected. Our plan to put Wisconsin Families First will increase economic opportunities and provide all residents with greater financial freedom and security,” Shilling said in a prepared statement.
The proposal would increase the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, and impact 500,000 Wisconsin workers and their employers.
NFIB/Wisconsin opposes the proposal, said State Director Bill G. Smith.
Smith has said an increase would be misguided public policy.
“You don’t gain purchasing advantage, or purchasing power, by artificially inflating the price of labor because for every action in the private sector there’s a reaction,” Smith said in media interviews last year. “So when the price of labor is increased, the only place a small business can go is to the labor side of their ledger, because 80 percent of the costs of owning and operating a small business are on the labor side.”
A 2014 report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that nationwide, a $10.10 could cost the economy 500,000 jobs.
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