Y’all Politics brings you a Bill of the Day from the Mississippi Legislature that just may pique your interest.
Raising the minimum wage has been a hot topic for Democrats over the last few years. Now, a group of Democratic State Senators have filed a bill that would do just that in the state of Mississippi over the next three years.
SB 2114 was filed by Senator Robert Jackson and joined by Senators Juan Barnett, David Jordan, Sarita Simmons, Kelvin Butler, Barbara Blackmon, Angela Turner-Ford, Albert Butler, John Horhn, Joseph Thomas, Hillman Frazier, Derrick Simmons, and Sollie Norwood.
The bill begins by stating that it “is declared to be the public policy of the State of Mississippi to establish fair minimum wages for workers in order to safeguard their health, efficiency and general well-being and to protect those workers as well as their employers from the effects of unfair competition resulting from wage levels detrimental to their health, efficiency and well-being.”
The bill says the state minimum wage would be set as follows:
- Beginning July 1, 2022, the rate of not less than Eight Dollars and Fifty Cents ($8.50) per hour;
- Beginning July 1, 2023, the rate of not less than Nine Dollars and Fifty Cents ($9.50) per hour;
- Beginning July 1, 2024, the rate of not less than Ten Dollars and Fifty Cents ($10.50) per hour; and
- Beginning July 1, 2025, the rate of not less than Twelve Dollars ($12.00) per hour.
The bill goes on to state that whenever the highest federal minimum wage is increased to an amount exceeding the minimum wage established under this new law, the state minimum wage shall be increased to the amount of the federal minimum wage plus one-half of one percent (1/2 of 1%) more than the federal rate, rounded to the nearest whole cent, effective on the same date as the increase in the highest federal minimum wage, and shall apply to all wage orders and administrative regulations then in force.
You can read the full bill here.
Frank Corder
