An Act to repeal 104.001, 104.01 (5g), 104.01 (7m) and 104.045 (1); to amend 104.045 (title); to repeal and recreate 104.035; to create 104.01 (1g) and 227.01 (13) (Lw) of the statutes; Relating to: a state minimum wage, allowing the enactment of local minimum wage ordinances, and granting rule-making authority. (FE)
AB1169 would substantially revise Wisconsin’s minimum wage law. It raises the general state minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $15 per hour, effective three months after the bill’s publication, and then requires the Department of Workforce Development to adjust that wage annually based on changes in the consumer price index, with rounding to the nearest five cents. The bill also directs DWD to publish the updated wage each year in the Wisconsin Administrative Register and on its website.
The bill restructures several existing wage categories by repealing statutory provisions for tipped employees, meal and lodging allowances, and specific wage rates for minors, opportunity employees, agricultural employees, and other groups. In their place, DWD would be required to set wages for certain categories by rule, including opportunity employees, agricultural employees, camp counselors, golf caddies, workers with disabilities covered by license, student learners, and some college students. It also preserves or authorizes exemptions for certain casual home employment, live-in companion care, and school-based student work-like activities. In addition, the bill removes the current prohibition on cities, villages, towns, and counties enacting local minimum wage ordinances, allowing local governments to adopt their own minimum wage rules.
The bill’s impact on state law would be significant: it would repeal and recreate major portions of Wisconsin’s wage code, shift more wage-setting authority to DWD, and create a new statutory framework for automatic inflation indexing. It would also open the door to local minimum wage ordinances, changing the current statewide preemption model. Employers across most sectors, especially low-wage industries, tipped-service businesses, agriculture, and employers of youth or special-category workers, would be directly affected.
The available context shows little recorded committee debate or vote detail, but the bill ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1. Based on the bill’s content, the general policy direction appears to be strongly pro-wage-increase and pro-local-control, with an emphasis on raising pay and preventing erosion of wages over time through inflation adjustments. The lack of recorded transcript discussion means no specific arguments are documented here, but the main likely points of contention are the size of the wage increase, the elimination of the tipped wage structure, the shift of wage-setting authority to the department, and the removal of state limits on local minimum wage ordinances.
AB1169 would repeal and recreate key provisions of Wisconsin’s minimum wage statutes, establish a $15 general minimum wage, require annual CPI-based adjustments, and authorize DWD to set or exempt wages for several special categories of workers by rule. It would also eliminate the current statewide ban on local minimum wage ordinances, allowing municipalities and counties to enact their own minimum wage laws. The bill would therefore affect employers, employees, local governments, and the Department of Workforce Development, while significantly altering the state’s wage-preemption framework.
No committee transcripts or votes are provided, so there is no documented floor or committee sentiment to summarize beyond the bill’s outcome. The bill’s text reflects a clear policy preference for higher wages, automatic inflation indexing, and local flexibility, but the measure ultimately failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1. That failure suggests the proposal did not secure sufficient legislative support, likely because of concerns about labor costs, local regulatory variation, and the scope of the changes to existing wage law.
The most likely points of contention are the jump from $7.25 to $15 per hour, the removal of the tipped minimum wage, and the repeal of several specialized wage provisions that currently apply to minors, agricultural workers, and other categories. Another major issue is the bill’s elimination of the prohibition on local minimum wage ordinances, which would allow cities, villages, towns, and counties to set their own wage floors and could create a patchwork of local rules. Supporters would likely emphasize wage adequacy and inflation protection, while opponents would likely focus on increased labor costs, administrative complexity, and reduced statewide uniformity.