COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — Minimum wage in Ohio could rise by a little more than $4 over the next few years.

There are two proposals, through different avenues and on different timelines, to get that done. Right now, the state’s minimum wage is $10.45.

The bill would also require tipped workers get paid at least $7.50 an hour by 2028, up from the current $5.25. If an establishment cannot prove that a tipped employee is making at least $15 an hour with tips, that employee would also be bumped up to make up for the discrepancy.

Blessing said the “kicker” of the legislation is that it would allow for a refundable earned income tax credit (EITC).

“It’s basically a wage subsidy,” Blessing said.

Blessing said there is an “administrative burden” to the EITC, meaning some legwork has to go in to receiving the refund.

“I think that’s something we can get around,” he said. “Is this better than somebody having this spread out on each one of their paychecks? Obviously, you would want it spread out on your paychecks if you could that. Maybe there is a way to do that.”

Blessing said the EITC also gives more leeway for businesses to have those four years prescribed in the bill to ramp up to $15 an hour.

“These people are still getting a lot of money through the refundable earned income tax credit which doesn’t impact employers the same way minimum wage does,” Blessing said.

SB256 will need to go through Senate and House hearings and pass both chambers before going into effect. Blessing said he is hopeful there will be decent movement on it before lawmakers break for the summer at the end of June.

There has also been a ballot initiative in the works by One Fair Wage Ohio, to leave the decision up to voters, to increase minimum wage to $15 an hour for both tipped and non-tipped workers by 2026. President and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant and Hospitality Alliance John Barker said the initiative presents a quick timeline.

“That’s really fast,” Barker said. “When you think about a business, if they were paying $10.45 and they have to go to $15 that quickly, that will cause inflation again.”

Barker said alliance members, across the board, are mostly against the ballot initiative.

“It depends on the business,” he said. “If you’re a little bit larger business and you have the ability to deal with cost, you may have a certain view of that. Smaller businesses don’t have a whole lot of room from a payroll standpoint, so they’d rather see something that moves up closer to the way that inflation moves up.”

Barker said that, in general, the market does a good job of regulating wages on its own, without the need for a ballot initiative or new law.

“Most people who are working in jobs today are making more than the minimum wage, as we do survey after survey in all 88 counties, we can’t find anyone who is paid $10.45,” he said. “The market has done a pretty good job of moving wages up.”

A request for comment from One Fair Wage Ohio was unreturned. Previously, the organization said Ohioans are “so ready” for the wage increase so they can keep up with the cost of living. The group must get 413,000 valid signatures by July 3 to put the proposal on the November ballot.

“If, for whatever reason, they didn’t get the signatures or something like that, I would still like to press forward with something,” Blessing said. “Because I don’t believe this issue is going away.”

Blessing said the legislature might also consider passing a joint resolution to put a competing proposal on the ballot in November if One Fair Wage does get the required signatures.

“There is time that the General Assembly could, in theory, pass a joint resolution and put something competing on the ballot, if we were so inclined,” he said. “I really believe that combining the minimum wage with the EITC at a slower rate is the way to go. If that means doing something on the ballot, I am fine with that.”