The state Senate will vote Tuesday on a bill that would raise the minimum wage in Wisconsin to $7.60 per hour.
Wisconsin's minimum wage has not been raised since June of 2006, when it went from $5.70 to $6.50 per hour for general employees.
Carrie Lynch, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, D-Schofield, said she expects this bill to pass easily.
This isn't a new topic, so I don't think there will be a lengthy discussion about it,"" Lynch said.
State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, agreed it is likely to pass, but on a ""straight party-line vote.""
He added the increase would negatively affect Wisconsin's economy because companies would be forced to lay off workers to pay the higher wages.
""If something costs more, you use less of it '¦ and if the price of starting labor goes up, you use less starting labor,"" he said. ""It will have a ripple effect.""
Grothman projected this ripple effect would cause high school and college students to make less money and therefore spend less money.
Lynch, however, said this bill would encourage spending and stimulate the economy.
""When you put money in the hands of people at that end of the economic scale, it is always spent immediately and locally, so it supports local jobs,"" she said. ""When these people get an increase, it doesn't go into a savings account. It usually just pays for more groceries, so it gets spent locally.""
On whether jobs will be lost, Lynch said, ""[Critics] bring that up every time we raise the minimum wage and they have no studies to show that it has ever happened.""
Rebekah Sweeney, spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan, D-Janesville, said in a statement the state Assembly is watching this bill's progress through the Senate, but she did not disclose its chances of passing in the Assembly.
""The Assembly is focused on legislation that creates and protects jobs, boosts business and supports workers and grows our economy for every Wisconsinite,"" she said.
