The legislative committee voting to block a statewide minimum-wage increase last fall is introducing a bill this week to make its decision permanent.
The GOP–controlled Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules voted to suspend a rule last September that would have raised the minimum wage to $5.70 an hour by October 2004 and to $6.50 a year later. The committee must pass a bill in the current legislative session in order to uphold the suspension.
State Senator and Labor Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis, said preventing the wage hike makes economic sense and actually protects workers with minimum-wage jobs.
“As hard as it is to believe, the value of that labor is not worth [the increased minimum wage],” Reynolds said. “If you raise the standard, employers will not be willing to [hire] people that do not [have] good skills.”
Despite the conservative opposition to the minimum-wage increase in the Capitol, Reynolds notes it is almost certain to go into effect. The governor, who supports the original proposal, has the power to veto the bill.
In his State of the State address, Doyle expressed his support for an increase in the state’s minimum wage.
“Democrats and Republicans agree on many things. But we have an honest disagreement when it comes to raising the minimum wage,” Doyle said during last Wednesday’s speech. “All over Wisconsin, I see people who are working so hard to support themselves. And they deserve a chance to get ahead.”
While Republicans control both houses of the legislature, they do not have the two-thirds majority necessary to override a gubernatorial veto. But Republicans do have a plan to postpone the minimum-wage increase as long as possible.
Republicans voted last Thursday to extend the legislature’s calendar until the end of next year — adjourning Dec. 28, 2006. They said the extension was voted on in order to give them more leverage in dealing with administrative rules proposed by Doyle’s administration. This is a significant extension to the adjournment normally taking place in late spring of an election year.
Craig Culver, CEO and co-founder of Culver’s Restaurant, expresses his hope that the minimum-wage increases will not be pushed off so long.
“Business is about, as life is about, win-win for everyone,” Culver said. “The better job we can do at taking care of our employees, the better off they will be … and the better off we will be for it.”
The bill could be brought up for a vote before the end of the legislative session, but the increase in minimum wage could be extended until January 2007.
Beth Fallon, a University of Wisconsin senior, hopes the workforce will recognize the importance of the people working at minimum wage and meet the need for an increase in their pay.
“I think what would really help is if people wouldn’t see service jobs as so dispensable, because the world would fall apart if people weren’t doing those jobs,” Fallon said. “That is what is so frustrating.”
