Bardstown junior Amber Roberts can barely pay her cell phone bill. She can’t spend money at the mall. She can’t buy books until she gets her next paycheck.

Roberts is working for $5.15 an hour as a circulation assistant at Cravens Graduate Center and Library. She said her wages don’t keep up with other costs at Western.

“Everything keeps going up except what we earn,” she said.

But Roberts said she’d be able to expand her budget if legislators raise the minimum wage.

“If they keep jacking up tuition, it could help out considerably,” she said.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007, which proposes to raise the minimum wage across the country from $5.15 to $7.25 in three increments over two years and two months.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., proposed the bill and it passed 315 to 116.

Kentucky’s legislature also has proposed bills to raise the state’s minimum wage. There are four bills filed to raise the wage. The bills propose to raise the wage to $7 an hour or $7.25 an hour.

Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said minimum wage should be raised because it’s stayed the same for too long.

“Obviously, inflation has eaten into the buying power significantly,” Richards said. About 30 states have raised the minimum wage above the federal average.

It’s a very popular issue, Richards said.

Western is preparing to pay for a possible raise in the minimum wage. Budget Manager Denise Huffman said Western is tentatively setting aside $700,000 from its general budget to pay for a raise in the minimum wage. The funding would pay for a raise of the minimum wage to $6.50.

However, the amount of funding and time of funding might change, depending on what the state and federal government decide about raising the wage. The Budget Council will decide the final amount of money.

About 1,500 to 1,600 students are employed on campus, Student Employment Coordinator Elaine Williams said. The normal pay rate for student jobs on campus is minimum wage.

Many students leave the Hill to find jobs that pay more than minimum wage, Williams said.

“The convenience factor of working on campus is really what keeps students interested in working on campus,” she said.

Elizabethtown sophomore Phillip Felli stocks shelves and runs the register at the Blockbuster on Campbell Lane. He usually works until midnight for about $6 an hour.

Felli said he’s afraid the prices of everything else will increase if the minimum wage is increased. Felli would be happier with making a dollar more if the cost of living and price of goods stayed the same.

“That would be awesome,” he said. “Then we’d be good to go.”

Felli’s assistant manager, Jordan Eddings, said hours would probably be cut if the minimum wage is increased.

Eddings, a Greenville junior, helps run the store and supervise employees.

Reach Alex Fontana at news@wkuherald.com.