MOBILE, Ala. (WPMI) — The minimum wage in more than 20 states will be getting increased in 2023. Four of those states will raise their minimum wage to at or above $15 an hour. Alabama is not one of them, as its minimum wage is holding steady at $7.25 an hour. The last time it was changed was back in 2009. Some people I spoke with say with rising prices, it may be time for the minimum wage to go up.
Senator Chris Elliott says he doesn't see that happening anytime soon.
"The state could set a minimum wage by passing a law and having that signed into law by the governor if it so chooses to do so, however I don't anticipate the state of Alabama taking something up in the upcoming legislative session," he says.
There are several states such as Alabama, North Carolina, and Kentucky, that have a $7.25 minimum wage. Senator Elliott says the markets are driving the wages.
"Well, if you want an employee even what typically was or used to be minimum wage job, those jobs are demanding more pay in order to fill that position," he says.
For small and local businesses, it may be more difficult to afford to pay as much as the larger corporations.
"If you love it, which I do, you hustle to make it work and whether that's a sacrifice a vacation or having to work late some nights it's just what you do,” says Carra Smith, owner and manager of Dog Days Barkery. "We definitely have a more I would say get up and go and a drive than you see at some big box stores."
Carra Smith is a small business owner in Mobile. She has 3 employees who work alongside her. She pays her staff more than minimum wage and like other small businesses, is spending more than she has in the past.
"Everyday prices have gone up, not to mention our groceries, our taxes and things like that. Everything has gone up except for what we're bringing home so I can definitely understand the struggle," says Smith.
As a former small business owner, Senator Elliott says with inflation and competitive prices, mom and pop shops are feeling the brunt of it.
"They're seeing that not only in their employees, but they're seeing it in material costs,” says Elliott. “At the federal level, we need to do everything we can to act on that to make sure we get better control and at the state level, we need to make sure we don't do anything to make it worse."
Washington, California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts' minimum wage will increase to at or above $15 an hour next year.
