Ohio would have the highest state minimum wage in the country under a proposal by Democratic lawmakers.
Senate Bill 25 would raise Ohio’s minimum wage, currently $8.10 an hour, to $10.10 an hour in 2016 with future adjustments for inflation. All 10 Democratic senators signed on to support the bill, but it is unlikely to move forward in the Republican-controlled chamber.
Bill sponsor Sen. Kenny Yuko, a Richmond Heights Democrat, said the higher amount reflects changes in inflation since the 1975 update of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The bill would increase the threshold for mandatory overtime pay for salaried employees from $23,000 to $50,000 in the first year and to $69,000 thereafter.
“Ohio workers have suffered from stagnant wages and this legislation would give them relief,” Yuko said in a press release. “It is time for the General Assembly to take action and empower workers whose paychecks, benefits, and well-being have been eroding for decades.”
Ohio’s minimum hourly wage has increased gradually since 2007, after voters approved annual automatic adjustments through a ballot measure. The minimum wage went up from $7.95 to $8.10 and the minimum wage for tipped workers increased 7 cents to $4.05 an hour on Jan. 1.
Ohio’s minimum wage is now higher than 35 states and the federal wage of $7.25 per hour, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Six states and Washington, D.C. plan to raise their wages to $10 or higher by 2017. Washington state has the highest wage, raised to $9.47 an hour on Jan. 1.
Opponents of a minimum wage increase say policymakers should focus on ways to move minimum wage workers to higher-paying jobs, such as strengthening job skills programs. Yuko said in an interview that should also be a goal, but it won’t erase the need for minimum wage jobs.
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