The minimum wage will rise to eight-50 an hour in South Dakota starting January first. The South Dakota State Federation of Labor was among the groups that helped get the issue onto the ballot this fall. President Mark Anderson says they see the wage hike as grass-roots, economic development.

The ballot issue also indexed the wage to inflation, so low-wage workers will see a cost-of-living increase every year.

 

Opponents of the wage hike said it will lead to job losses. Anderson says history doesn’t show that.