Decade-old minimum wage formula to remain unchanged

Senators reject effort to increase the base set by voters in 2014

PIERRE – A bid to override a voter approved initiative that sets annual increases in the state minimum wage by increasing the base failed Thursday.

Brought by Sen. Reynold Nesiba, a Sioux Falls Democrat and economics professor at Augustana University, Senate Bill 132 would have raised the minimum wage to $12 an hour on July 1. Then, to $13 an hour on July 1, 2025 and $15 on Jan. 1, 2026, with inflationary increases thereafter.

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Currently, the minimum wage is $11.20.

Nesiba said that $15 an hour would match a voter initiative in Nebraska that raises the hourly minimum to $15 by 2026. If South Dakota is competing with its neighbors for workers, a higher minimum wage would help.

“One of the most important things we can do is that South Dakota rewards work,” he said.

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