Earlier in May, Seattle announced its plan to raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 an hour. Currently, the federal minimum wage $7.25.
Oregon’s minimum wage is $9.10. The state of Washington’s is $9.32, currently the highest pay floor of the nation.
In Seattle, the climb to $15 as a minimum wage will take some time, depending on the size of the business, but by 2020, all businesses are expected to meet the wage change. Large businesses with over 500 employees have 3 years to enact the change. Smaller businesses have five years.
“Raising the minimum wage seems great in theory, but it’s going to affect more than just the dollar amount on my paycheck,” said Jordan Allen, a University of Washington junior and resident of Seattle.
Allen currently pays $700 a month for a room in a house located in a “sketchy part of the University district.”
Allen works a minimum wage job and receives help from her parents to cover the costs of her expenses.
“If I had to pay all of my expenses by myself while in college, it would be close to impossible,” Allen said.
University of Oregon freshman Carly Gough, who works part-time at Dairy Queen echoes Allen’s statement.
To cover all her expenses on her own Gough says she would have to work full time and “even then I’m not sure.”
Allen showed skepticism for the minimum wage bump in Seattle.
“Why would property management places keep rent the same if the minimum wage has almost doubled,” Allen said. “I think some businesses will find ways to cut employee involvement to save on payroll, so the job market might suffer too.”
After one year the wage will reach $9.15. After two years the wage will rest at $10.10. Three years and the Secretary of Labor will decide the minimum wage based on the Consumer Price Index and continue to do so annually.
The gradual climb to meet the $15 mimics the plan for HR 1010, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. The act would raise federal minimum wage to $10.10.
HR 1010 amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and has a gradual increase for wages. If the bill is enacted a wage increase of $8.20 will go into place three months after it is signed into law.
Oregon representatives Peter DeFazio, Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer are all co-sponsors of HR 1010.
DeFazio first sponsored the bill when it was presented on March 6, 2013.
“Right now, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 is leaving 25 million American workers behind, all while lining the pockets of the people at the very top, DeFazio said. “It’s time for the rest of the country to adopt what’s already happening in Oregon: tying the minimum wage to inflation. Giving workers a long-overdue raise would lift millions of Americans out of poverty. That’s not only good for the workers, but also for the U.S. economy and its long-term growth.”