Archive for Business & Labor
Save Montana’s Minimum Wage
Posted by:by Senator Sharon Stewart-Peregoy (D-Crow Agency)
There are more than 9,300 working Montanans struggling to get by on minimum wage and tips. Last week, in the Montana Senate, we stood up for Montana’s working families and fought back an attempt to lower the minimum wage on tipped employees. Read More→
Sen. Gillan: Autism Needs More Attention
Posted by:Senator Kim Gillan (D-Billings) presented Senate Bill 234, a bill to require group insurance policies to cover autism treatment, today in the Senate Business, Labor & Economic Affairs Committee. Read More→
Tip Credit Bill Killed in Senate
Posted by:The Montana Senate Tuesday voted against the “Tip Credit Bill.” Senate Bill 253 failed 2nd reading with a vote of 29 – 21, 6 Republicans and all 23 Senate Democrats joined together to kill the bill. Senator Steinbesser (R - Sidney) introduced the bill, which would allow for tips to count toward the minimum wage of an employee. The law as it stands now has a minimum wage employee earning $6.90 per hour excluding tips. Steinbesser’s bill proposed to amend the law and allow for an employer to use tips to offset increases to the minimum wage above $6.90/hr. The federal minimum wage is set to increase to $7.25/hr in July this would have cost each tip earner 35 cents/hr in tips. Read More→
"I think that it’s going to all work out, with the changes that we have agreed to. It’s not as much (spending for some programs) as I would’ve hoped, but apparently it’s more than other people wanted. As usual, we are trying to find the middle.” 
"[On term limits:] You empower the executive, you empower the lobbyists and that's not good for the system because then we lose what the citizen Legislature brings.” 