WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – The minimum wage in Kansas has sat at $7.25 per hour for 15 years, but a new bill would more than double it to $16 per hour.
Kansas currently has one of the lowest minimum wages in the country.
Senator Cindy Holscher, who introduced the bill, cites rising costs as a reason to raise the wage.
“The affordability crisis is looming large in small and large towns everywhere,” says Holscher.
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For one small business owner here in Wichita, he says the negatives might outweigh the positives when it comes to raising the minimum wage.
“If the state came in and said I have to pay this many people this much, I’m gonna tell some employees that I can’t have them and I’m gonna probably just end up working myself,” says Brian “Bam” Hunter, owner of Wizard’s Alley.
If he has to let go of employees, he says it may create more work for those still working there.
“I already work 10 to 12 hour days, and if I have to let employees go on top of working, we’re probably not gonna have those 10 or 12 hour days, they’re probably gonna turn into longer days,” says Hunter.
One argument against raising the minimum wage is the prices on goods potentially rising with them. Hunter says he can’t afford to raise prices any more than he already has.
“The expense is gonna be payroll, you know, and food is already at the point where I don’t think I can raise it much more, the stuff that I have flexibility on as far as pricing, I don’t really feel like I can raise,” says Hunter.
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