Gov. Doyle rejects minimum wage bill
11:40 PM 3/16/04
Beth Williams Wisconsin State Journal

Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed a bill Tuesday that would have prevented local governments, including Madison, from setting higher minimum wages. <

And Tuesday night, Madison's City Council celebrated the governor's reprieve by putting off a vote on a proposed ordinance that would raise the minimum wage to $7.75 an hour for workers in the city by 2008. <

Doyle said he doesn't like the idea of communities having different minimum wages because it might hurt economic development. "However, with a minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, I can understand why localities believe that they need to raise the minimum wage," Doyle said. "Until Republicans in the Legislature join the consensus of business, labor, and community leaders and support raising Wisconsin's minimum wage, I see no reason to sign this bill." <

Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, who sponsored the state bill, said the veto would allow a "destructive wage increase to go through." <

Madison's proposal is "a drastic hike" that will result in layoffs of vulnerable citizens such as teenagers and senior citizens, Grothman said. <

If the governor had signed the bill, any minimum wage ordinance passed by Madison would not have gone into effect. <

For the past week or so, city officials had been rushing to get the ordinance ready for a Tuesday vote, even if it would have been only symbolic. <

"I believe that a higher minimum wage will be good for Madison's economy," Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said in a statement. "It will result in longer employee retention and higher morale, which will increase productivity." <

Now Ald. Austin King, 8th District, the council's leading minimum wage advocate, said the city can take another couple of weeks to refine the ordinance and communicate with business owners. <

"We absolutely have the votes," King said before the meeting. "I could go up there tonight and force it, but there's no need to." <

A group of small business owners came before the council Tuesday night to ask for more time so city officials can listen to their concerns. <

"A lot of small business people want to pay $7.75 an hour, but a lot of small business owners I've talked to don't feel, in this economic climate, they can do that," said Sandi Torkildson, owner of a Room of One's Own bookstore, 307 W. Johnson St. and president of the Greater State Street Business Association. <

The latest draft of the proposed ordinance gives businesses even more time before they would have to pay most workers at least $7.75 an hour and tipped employees at least $3.88 an hour. <

Small businesses now wouldn't have to pay those wages until 2008. <

"If we give more than that, we might as well not have an ordinance," King said. <

The federal minimum wage is currently $5.15 an hour and $2.33 an hour for tipped employees. <

The council is expected to vote on the proposal March 30. <

"People who are working hard and getting paid minimum wage won't have to wait much longer," King said. <