Wisconsin residents weighed in Wednesday on a bill that would increase the minimum wage more than $1 for many employees in the state.

The bill would raise the current general minimum wage from $6.50 per hour to $7.60 per hour.

“The bill would increase minimum wage and index it to inflation. It would be effective immediately,” Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said.

Black added the minimum wage has fallen behind the cost of living, and it can be difficult for one working at minimum wage to support a family.

Additionally, students working during college to pay for their education are not able to do so easily with the current minimum wage.

Black said one way the bill would help the economy would be through the increased spending on goods and services from those in the lower pay scale.

Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said raising the minimum wage in a slow economy could do further damage.

“The problem with indexing is once you raise wages at the lower end, there is a trickle up — all wages above end up getting bounced … there is no cap on the indexing factor. It is a terrible idea,” Nass said.

The increase technically affects the lowest wage, but it actually affects all other wages, Nass said. The cost is not only in the minimum wage, but also in the adjustments employers would have to make for earnings above the minimum.

Bob Jacobson, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, is a firm believer in minimum wage being indexed to inflation.

“We can go several years between wage increases. During this time, inflation goes up, and the buying power of the people goes down. By indexing the minimum wage, the wage would constantly increase to keep pace with inflation,” Jacobson said.

According to Nass, inflation levels are expected to rise to levels close to 10 percent. He expects this to occur sooner than later.

“When Jimmy Carter was president, we had inflationary increases at upwards of 18 percent. Most will say we’ll never get there again, but we could get to 9 percent,” Nass said.

In addition to increasing the wage and having inflationary increases, the bill would bring about local ordinances, which give cities the ability to make their own minimum wage.

Nass said Madison has tried to create a local minimum wage in the past. He believes this would be a bad thing, however, because the city would lose businesses to other communities that had not increased their wages.

“There would be islands of minimum wages,” said Nass. “The minimum wage is a training wage, a learning process. It is where you begin, and you learn how to deal with people, to show up on time (and) to work hard…. There aren’t many people who remain there. It is about moving up the ladder.”