Windy Boy bill would raise minimum wage to $10.10

A bill that would raise Montana’s minimum wage to $10.10 a hour has been introduced to the state Senate by Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder.

Windy Boy said he has been in the Legislature for 12 years and has heard politicians say they want to bring high-paying jobs to Montana.

“This is the time to put their money where their mouth is,” he said.

Windy Boy’s bill will be heard in the Senate’s Business and Finance Committee at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, he said.

Windy Boy said Montana’s minimum wage, $8.05, is not enough for a family to live on.

The minimum wage hike has been a cause supported by progressives and labor unions nationwide, though it has been opposed by business organizations.

Many Democrats support it, but most Republicans don’t. Fast-food workers throughout the nation are rallying behind such legislation.

The national minimum wage is $7.25.

In 2006, Montana voters approved a mandatory annual increase based on the cost of living.

Even though Republicans dominate both Houses in the Montana Legislature, he said he will work hard for passage.

Sandy Lucky, spokeswoman for the Montana AFL-CIO, said the union has takenWagesreasing wages for workers.

Another bill has been introduced by Rep. Mary Ann Dunwell, D-Helena, that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, she said.

The unions are most interested in maintaining the cost-of-living index, she said.

The increase to $10.10 sounds great, but as inflation creeps up, workers will be fighting the same battle they ddi before 2006, she said.

The indexing has been lifesaver for people working at minimum wage, she said.

“They haven’t gained anything, but they’ve stopped losing,” she said.

In the 1950s, she said, a family could afford a two-bed room apartment and a decent lifestyle on the minimum wage, but it hasn’t kept up with inflation, and that is no longer possible.