OLYMPIA — Democrats in Olympia are making one thing clear about a new proposal to raise the minimum wage: If it doesn’t pass this year, be ready for a ballot initiative.
The bills, sponsored by state Sen. Pramila Jayapal, D-Seattle, and Rep. Jessyn Farrell, D-Seattle, would raise the state’s minimum wage from $9.47, the highest in the nation besides Washington, D.C., to $12 per-hour over four years.
And by using a possible 2016 ballot initiative as a bargaining chip, it may fare better than Farrell’s bill last year that failed to make it out of a House committee chaired by Medina Democrat Ross Hunter.
“Income inequality is as bad as it has been since my grandmother was a small girl in 1929,” said Farrell at a news conference last week. “We know that we can do better than that.”
Since ballot initiatives are usually crafted by advocacy groups, opposition is left out of the conversation. Olympia might be best opportunity for Republicans to weigh in on the issue.
“Well, I would certainly say that would be a good conversation to have,” said State Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia. Braun is vice chairman of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee where the Senate minimum-wage bill lands first.
“We have a big difference of opinion but we do recognize the possibility of a ballot initiative along these lines. It’s probably going to be a discussion in the Legislature, but I think it’s too early to tell if there’s a bargain to be made.”
Momentum for minimum-wage hikes can be seen around the country. Four states traditionally more conservative than Washington – Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska and South Dakota – increased wages through 2014 ballot measures.
In President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday, he called on Congress to raise the national minimum wage. The Seattle City Council and voters in SeaTac have already approved local increases to $15 an hour in the last two years.
Farrell said she prefers a legislative solution rather than a “very blunt and sometimes very necessary” ballot vote. Jayapal agreed, saying her priority was a legislative approach.
So Farrell spread the proposed wage hike over four years in HB 1355 to assuage fears of those who say raising the minimum wage hurts small businesses. Her bill last year called for a three-year phase-in.
Polling in Washington on raising the minimum wage is limited. An Elway poll last July 2014 said Seattle was the only area in the state where voters believed a $15 minimum wage would help the economy more than hurt it.
But Seattle and Western Washington have powered through ballot initiatives as of late. The state has recently passed Initiative 502 legalizing recreational marijuana, Initiative 594 to expand gun-purchase background checks, and Initiative 1351 to reduce K-12 class size.
But as the issue comes up for discussion among lawmakers, Braun said there’s a philosophical difference between how the Majority Coalition in the Senate views minimum wage versus supporters of an increase. He sees the number of jobs as the fundamental answer to the economy’s problems, with more jobs reducing poverty more effectively rather than higher wages in fewer jobs.
“That said, is four years (for a phase-in) better than three years?” Braun said. “Certainly.”
Hunter said an increase in the minimum wage might be easier to pass in a big-budget year like 2015.
“I think it’s a super interesting policy that I think we should talk about a lot,” Hunter said, without taking a specific position on the bills. “I support the general idea of having minimum-wage increases.”
In the Senate, even if the bill emerged from the Commerce and Labor committee, support voiced by Sen. Mark Miloscia, R-Federal Way, would mean Jayapal would need one more ally in the Senate (if every Democrat supports the bill) to snag the 25 votes necessary to pass.
“If they think they’re in a stronger position now than they were four years ago, then show us,” Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellensburg said. “Republicans didn’t kill the minimum-wage vote last year, Democrats did.”
The House bill is scheduled for a hearing at 1:30 p.m. Monday.
