By University of Montana reporter Natalie Neumann
A bill that would cap the minimum wage on employees who also get tips failed in the Montana Senate Tuesday.
The bill would have allowed employers to count tips as wages to make up the difference when the minimum wage rises beyond $6.90 an hour. Bill sponsor Don Steinbeisser, a Republican from Sidney, says the bill would support restaurant owners who are struggling to keep their businesses afloat.
“This bill is about jobs. Is it better to have a job with a little bit less, a little less tip, or not to have a job at all.”
Steinbeisser says Montana is one of seven states that doesn’t have a tip credit and says it’s a reason some prospective businesses don’t come to Montana.
Attorney General Steve Bullock spoke against the bill prior to the Senate session. Bullock spearheaded an initiative in 2006 to increase the minimum wage, which passed with 73 percent voter approval.
“Now at a time when we’re giving Wall Street millionaires handouts and bailouts, it’s important that we also remember the other side of the spectrum. It’s gonna take all of us working together to get out of the financial crisis but we shouldn’t do it on the backs of waiters, waitresses, bartenders and taxi cab drivers.”
Democratic Senator Joe Tropila of Great Falls voted against the bill. He said: “And having been in the business and having had waitress and cooks and chefs who make more money than the waitresses. They rely on their tips because they work at minimum wage. They are the poorest of the poor.”
Natalie Neumann reports from the capitol as a reporter for the University of Montana’s Legislative News Service.
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