Employers who agree to increase their employees’ hourly wages to $10 could see thousands of dollars in tax credits under a bill two Democratic Milwaukee-area legislators introduced Tuesday.
State Reps. Mandela Barnes and LaTonya Johnson introduced the legislation, which proposes to give employers a $5,000 per-worker tax credit for their agreement to give workers a “basic wage.”
Both legislators said in a statement the bill would help Wisconsinites who increasingly see their full-time employment switch to part time because of a struggling economy.
“A part-time job is better than no job at all, but the increase in part-time work makes it more difficult for families who must juggle two or three part-time jobs to coordinate schedules or maintain a budget when work hours can fluctuate widely from one week to the next, and this uncertainty has ripple effects throughout the wider economy,” the legislators said in the statement.
The wage-hike incentive follows Democratic efforts on both the state and national levels, including a request from President Barack Obama in his recent State of the Union address, to pursue a minimum wage of $10.10 per hour. Wisconsin’s current minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
While efforts within the state have been stagnant, Democrats maintain a higher minimum wage would allow for increased individual spending and a subsequent boost to the economy.
Republicans on both state and federal levels argue an increased minimum wage would leave businesses paying workers more than they can afford, which could eventually lead to layoffs and higher unemployment.
