Mitch Millhollin works 40 hours a week while attending Iowa State full time. It’s a tough balancing act, and he said a minimum-wage increase would really help him out.

“I think [the minimum wage is] too low. … It’s is hard to afford everything,” said Millhollin, sophomore in industrial engineering.

He sometimes works up to 12 hours a day at Happy Joe’s, 551 South Duff Ave. Although he makes more than minimum wage, Millhollin said he’s still in favor of an increase.

He said people can live off minimum wage — but not very successfully.

“You can survive; it depends on how many hours you work,” he said.

Millhollin is working to support both himself and his wife, so it’s a challenge. “It’s very hard to get caught up when you get behind, but I have to survive somehow,” he said.

A group of Democratic Iowa state senators, including State Sen. Johnie Hammond, D-Ames, recently proposed raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.15 within a two-year period.

“There is a number of people working in this state for low wages, yet there is a shortage of workers. I have talked to several people who say they would take a certain job if it paid better,” Hammond said.

Hammond introduced the bill in the State Senate, and from there, it has to go the Labor Senate Committee. Then, it will be sent to a three-person subcommittee, where the chairman of that committee will decide when the bill should be up for consideration.

State Sen. Steve King, R-Kiron, chairs the subcommittee that will be considering the bill. King said he thinks the bill would only cut jobs and opportunities.

“We currently have a full economy. Everybody is working who can,” King said. “Those working at lower-paying entry level jobs would be punished. Those jobs would dry up. I feel that everyone should be given the opportunity to work their way up.”

Carmen Miller, manager at Da Vinci’s, 2514 Chamberlain St., said her business wouldn’t be very affected by any increase, and she supports the legislation.

“As far as this business is concerned, I don’t think that it would hurt us any. I think that people, especially in the restaurant business, don’t get paid enough for what they do,” Miller said.

Miller said Da Vinci’s pays its employees depending on experience, with a starting of wage of $5.15.

“[The bill] would force people to realize that if people work hard, they need to get paid well for what they do,” she said.

But Linda Van Horn, owner of Gregory’s Coffee House, 421 S. Duff Ave., said this bill would considerably hurt her small business.

“Payroll takes up a large portion of my profits now. I can only physically work so many hours. I would have to make cutbacks somewhere and maybe raise prices,” Van Horn said.

Van Horn said raising prices would definitely bring trouble for her coffee house, which employs only seven people.

“You can only raise prices so much before people won’t pay anymore,” she said.

Peter Orazem, ISU professor of economics, said the state of Iowa should only raise the minimum wage if bordering states increase their wages, too.

Orazem said in 1989, the state of Iowa raised the minimum wage on the belief that the federal government was going to do the same. However, it didn’t, and Orazem said it hurt Iowa businesses.

For example, in a research paper that Orazem co-authored for the ISU Department of Economics, it was found that when the minimum wage increased, Iowa firms often shut down.

“We are not doing ourselves any favors if the surrounding states don’t raise it also. Typically, Iowa is a high-wage state,” Orazem said.

Hammond said Vermont’s state Legislature is working to pass a similar minimum-wage law this year, and she believes that state will pass the bill. But, she said, the Iowa bill will face opposition from Republicans in the Legislature such as King.

“It would not surprise me if the chairman of the subcommittee would stick [the bill] in his desk drawer. Minimum-wage bills are usually Democratic-sponsored,” Hammond said. “Republicans are less likely to like the bill since the Legislature is controlled by Republicans. It sometimes takes several years for a Legislature to decide they want to act on a bill.”

King said he has a son at Iowa State who, like Millhollin, is working several jobs. But King said his son has found many opportunities to make good money.

“Democrats are not the final word on what’s good for Iowa,” King said.