Portland Democrat Tina Kotek unveiled her plan to increase the state’s minimum wage while allowing local jurisdictions to go beyond the threshold.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Portland Democrat Tina Kotek unveiled her plan Monday to increase the state’s minimum wage while allowing local jurisdictions to go beyond the threshold.
“There is no perfect number, but if we can make sure that people are living above the federal poverty level when they work full time, we can make sure they have enough to meet their basic necessities, and we will have done our job.”
Whether her proposal will advance in the remaining weeks of this session is uncertain. Business groups oppose raising the current wage, which at $9.25 per hour is the second highest state rate in the nation – and they strongly oppose allowing cities and counties to set their own rates. Also, Kotek acknowledged that Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, has resisted a discussion about increasing the wage.
(SOURCE: Portland Tribune)
The Oregon minimum wage would be increased to $11 in 2016, $12 in 2017 and finally $13 in 2018.
Kotek said in a news release: “A raise in the minimum wage will lead to more money flowing back into local economies — that’s good for small businesses, working families, and our state. This plan also takes into account that different communities have different needs. By giving local governments the freedom to set their minimum wage higher at the local level, this proposal provides a tool to help families struggling with the higher, rapidly increasing costs of living in Portland and other metropolitan areas.”
Kotek’s attempt to broach the hot-button topic comes weeks before this session concludes, making a smooth passage unlikely.
Democrats have enough votes to pass minimum wage increases without Republican support. But many have been reluctant, worried that passing too many workplace-related bills at once could alienate business leaders. Democrats introduced more than a dozen bills at the start of session to raise the minimum wage to between $10 and $15 in coming years, but none had enough support to make it out of committee. Kotek’s proposal will be an amendment to one of those bills, House Bill 2012, which originally aimed to increase wages to $13.50 by 2017.
“It may cost us shifts, it may cost us hours, it could cost us hires if we raise the minimum wage too high,” said Rep. David Gomberg, D-Otis. “She has offered us a proposal that is far from the 15 (dollars) originally suggested, and we will be waiting to see how it plays out.”
(SOURCE: OregonLive.com)
Kotek expects labor activists to push to get the issue on the 2016 ballot as an initiative.
Business groups were dismayed by both the proposed raise to the minimum wage and the lifting of the pre-emption rule.
“They do not have a bookkeeper full time,” said Jan Meekcoms, Oregon state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, a small business lobby group. “They do not have an HR department. The administrative nightmare of keeping track of all this, in different jurisdictions with different wages, would be horrific.”
(SOURCE: Associated Press)
