Wyoming Legislators Propose Raising Minimum Wage to $15/HR

Wyoming Legislators Propose Raising Minimum Wage to $15/HR

A statue on the grounds of the Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne with the newly rebuilt Herschler Building in the background. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City)

Originally reported by Brendan LaChanceOil City News.

CASPER — Seven Wyoming legislators are sponsoring House Bill 206, which would raise the minimum wage in the state to $15 an hour.

Wyoming’s current minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. Should the legislation become law, the minimum wage would be raised effective July 1, 2021.

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While Democrats in the U.S. Congress have tried to include increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 as part of their $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, the Associated Press reported Monday that this effort was “all but dead as the Senate prepared to debate its own version of the House-passed aid package.”

Wyoming’s U.S. Senator John Barrasso has said a $15 minimum wage could kill jobs and hurt small businesses.

On the other hand, a single adult working in Wyoming needs to earn at lease $10.24/hr in order to be self sufficient, according to “The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Wyoming 2020” prepared by Dr. Diana M. Pearce for the Wyoming Women’s Foundation in Feb. 2020.

Sponsors of House Bill 206 include:

  • Representative(s) Clifford, Connolly, Provenza, Sherwood, Yin
  • Senator(s) Gierau, Rothfuss