Activists call on Wisconsin lawmakers to raise minimum wage

MADISON, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – Activists are once again calling on the state Legislature to raise Wisconsin’s minimum wage.

On Tuesday, service workers and organizers gathered at the state Capitol to share their calls for a $20 per hour minimum wage — a significant increase over the current $7.25 wage.

The current minimum wage was set at the federal level in 2009, but about half of the states across the country have increased the minimum wage.

Critics of raising the minimum wage claim it would stifle hiring and increase inflation.

A 2024 report found that there were over three million Wisconsin jobs, and inflation-adjusted hourly wages increased by 97 cents.

“In these last five years, lower-wage workers have seen their wages go up by 8%,” said Laura Dresser, associate director of the High Road Strategy Center at UW-Madison and the report’s co-author. “In terms of purchasing power, real value, and high-wage workers have only had wages go up about 1%.”

The report recommended that Wisconsin lawmakers increase minimum wage to $15 per hour in an effort to close the pay gap.