A state bill is poised for approval by an Assembly committee that would thwart efforts to increase the minimum wage for Madison to $7.75 per hour.

The bill, supported by the Republican-controlled State Assembly Labor Committee, would prohibit municipalities from having their own minimum-wage ordinances, according to Melanie Conklin, spokeswoman for Madison mayor Dave Cieslewicz.

“They are trying to stop us from doing what we want to do,” Conklin said.

Conklin said the current minimum wage is unfair to an economically struggling student population.

“I think it very much affects students,” Conklin said. “We all see that tuition is rising yet the minimum wage is not rising along with it.”

Many downtown businesses, however, said the higher costs that would result from an increase in the minimum wage might force them be open less and hire less student employees.

In the Cieslewicz’s statement to address the bill, he discussed the benefits of having local control over the issue. He argued that economic conditions vary in differing cities throughout Wisconsin and “a statewide minimum wage is not responsive to these differences.”

While the average cost of a house in Milwaukee is $84,000, the average cost of a house in Madison is $184,00.

“It has become increasingly difficult for people making minimum wage to afford housing, health care and other basic necessities,” Cieslewicz said in a statement opposing the State Assembly Labor Committee’s bill.

City Ald. Austin King, District 8, said he remains optimistic that the minimum-wage proposal will pass. The campaign has received 9,000 of the 12,853 signatures on a petition needed to pass the ordinance.

“We are finding support for this petition in every corner of Madison,” King said.

While Madison political figures are in strong support of the minimum-wage proposal, local business owners, to whom many students turn for employment, have mixed views on an increased minimum wage.

Chocolate Shoppe owner Steve Heaps said he is in favor of a higher minimum wage but not one as high as $7.75.

“I think the increments are too high,” Heaps said. If the minimum wage increases, he said he would have to make changes in his business.

“I would probably cut back my staff. I might change my hours,” Heaps said.

Heaps also discussed the difficulties newly established businesses would have to face from having to pay employees $7.75 on top of rent and other expenses.

Other businesses would see similar cutbacks in staff.

“We would get rid of half of our staff,” Stop and Shop Grocery manager Jon Reed said.

However, other business owners are in support of a raised minimum wage. One manager of a business on State Street said a higher minimum wage would be beneficial, because it would allow students to have extra cash to spend.

“If I come out supporting this publicly it could cause me real trouble,” said a manager of a State Street business, who wishes to remain anonymous.

“If students had more money to spend, they would spend a lot more downtown,” he added. Other business owners said they would not need to undergo changes in order to support a new wage.

“I think that for our business it would be fine because [$7.75] is around what our employees start at anyways,” Soren Schoff, manager of Canterbury Books, said.

Schoff said a raised minimum wage may help struggling students who are trying to pay tuition and rent, in addition to paying for their books.

“I think it would help people get by a bit better,” Schoff said. “Especially in a city where the cost of living is so high.”

Student advocate Tim Putzier, administrator of the University of Wisconsin Student Job Center, said he would see a higher minimum wage as a positive change. He said the issue is a double-edged sword. Since most campus jobs are already paying $7.25, a 50-cent bump would not make a significant change.

However, it may mean that intermediate-level workers would end up with the same salary as more advanced workers, Putzier said. Overall, he said he would be in favor of a higher minimum wage.

“I am a proponent for the raise,” Putzier said. “It benefits so many people.”