State's minimum wage goes up on New Year’s Day
OLYMPIA, Wash. - The state’s minimum wage will rise 15 cents to $9.19 an hour on Jan. 1, a modest increase but still nearly two dollars an hour higher than the federal minimum wage. The increase will impact an estimated 164,000 low-wage workers in the Evergreen State.
The increase translates to $310 a year for the average affected worker. The minimum wage will rise in nine other states, including Northwest neighbors Oregon and Montana. The minimum wage in British Columbia went up last spring to $10.25 (Canadian) an hour.
The hike in low-income wages results from a 1998 ballot initiative, championed by organized labor and opposed by some business groups, that provides annual rate adjustments to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
“Washington’s modest annual minimum wage increases have proven incredibly valuable in promoting economic growth and protecting the real value of low-wage workers’ paychecks during the weak post-recession recovery,” said John Burbank, director of the Economic Opportunity Institute.
“Congress should learn from Washington’s example and pass a federal minimum wage increase with annual cost-of-living advances to promote consumer spending and help cash-strapped workers make ends meet,” Burbank added.
The federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 an hour.
Congress last voted to increase it in 2007, with the federal minimum wage ramping up to its present level on July 24, 2009.
In 1996, back when bipartisan cooperation was still possible in Washington, D.C., President Clinton worked out a deal with House Speaker Newt Gingrich and a Republican-led House to increase the minimum wage. Such deals have become rare 16 years later.
The increase translates to $310 a year for the average affected worker. The minimum wage will rise in nine other states, including Northwest neighbors Oregon and Montana. The minimum wage in British Columbia went up last spring to $10.25 (Canadian) an hour.
The hike in low-income wages results from a 1998 ballot initiative, championed by organized labor and opposed by some business groups, that provides annual rate adjustments to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
“Washington’s modest annual minimum wage increases have proven incredibly valuable in promoting economic growth and protecting the real value of low-wage workers’ paychecks during the weak post-recession recovery,” said John Burbank, director of the Economic Opportunity Institute.
“Congress should learn from Washington’s example and pass a federal minimum wage increase with annual cost-of-living advances to promote consumer spending and help cash-strapped workers make ends meet,” Burbank added.
The federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 an hour.
Congress last voted to increase it in 2007, with the federal minimum wage ramping up to its present level on July 24, 2009.
In 1996, back when bipartisan cooperation was still possible in Washington, D.C., President Clinton worked out a deal with House Speaker Newt Gingrich and a Republican-led House to increase the minimum wage. Such deals have become rare 16 years later.
So minimum wage goes up $0.15 an hour. Multiply that by 2080 (full time annual working hours) and you get $312 a year boost in pay ($26 per month). How much will groceries go up? Gas? Rent? Taxes? That $312 will get eaten up so quickly, it would make little difference.
Boy oh boy .......... I'm not sure a lot of the comments on here are even worth responding to. Most of the talk is only meant to make people mad and irritated. If that is how people really feel 24 hours a day ......... I would hate to be inside their head. It is true that hate is like a cancer that rots you from the inside.
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 @Crook Ofraud Ya ! I'm tired of these crooks runnin' stuff ! It's time for some other crooks to take over !
Let us all go watch Fox news my county-men, so as to reload the "musket of liberty" that we might fend off this minimum wage rabble so beneath us!
I like it when the minimum wage goes up here in Washington, businesses have to lay off people to remain in business for the rest of their employees, and then the laid out people blame Republicans, instead of the real guilty people, the democrats.
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Serves them right.
 @Nuclearian isn't fun how we get to laugh at those less successful than us Nuclearian? Yes... gleeful indeed as the wretched masses suffer beneath our expertly polished boots = )
 @TruthinAdverts Nobody's laughing. Just telling the truth. Sometimes truth DOES hurt.
 @TruthinAdverts You dont understand. Never will. Thats why I KNOW you are a demonrat.
 @lazarus  @Nuclearian Lazarus... I shall not be tricked into changing my mind because of voodoo such as numbers and data.... Take your facts elsewhere. We patriots scoff at your facts!
 @Nuclearian Oh I full heartedly agree... those demoncrats are despicable creatures, not fit for the light of day.... They are not equal to the powerful righteousness of patriots such as we! Yes my friend,,,, yes... you despise the wretched servants... I understand... I understand.Â
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 @TruthinAdverts  @Nuclearian he can guess you're a democrat because, as evidenced by the last election, democrats are the majority. point at just about anyone and odds are above 50% that they consider themselves aligned with the democrats.
 @TruthinAdverts I am hardly hoisiting my banner of disgust with the lower class. My income is not much more than minimum wage earners.
I am just stating the obvious. But thats not a way to get across to democrats.
 @Nuclearian How am I a democrat sir? I only agree with your brash and loud statements! Hoist your glorious banner of disgust with the lower classes! You know you want to
 @TruthinAdverts If I shoot somebody, I go to jail. You give a minimum wage increase, small business has to lay off to stay in business for the rest of the employees. Just the way it goes. Show me how that helps the "worker". Last time I checked, they WANT to work.
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And you should know about cowardice, you are obviously a democrat.
 @Nuclearian don't back out now Nuclearian... backing out is the way of cowards... not "patriots"
 @Nuclearian  @TruthinAdverts ah you said you "like it"... certainly the moment finds you mirthful at the distress of others
I'm with the posters on here who demand our "servants" don't make a livable wage. If I order from a fast food place, I want the worker to be underpaid and overworked when he cooks my hamburger.... Heavy on the ecoli you peasant!Â
 @TruthinAdverts And dont forget. You want him to lose his job.
Watch all the fascist right wing corporate apologists scream about minimum wage. I was making more then that in the '70s and I had benefits.
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Anybody that has a problem with this minimum is one sick individual and has no idea how a consumer based economy works and will never figure out why this economy failed.
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The entire concept of corporations before families and US deregulated predatory capitalism failed for everyone in '06. I hope I live long enough to see everyone of you right wing corporatist idiots eating rocks. Maybe instead of swallowing for a living you could look at the social democracies of Northern Europe like Norway to learn how an economy works for families and societies.
 @T_BONE_WALKER And the retarded left wingers who support the minimum wage going up, even through they SAY they want people to have jobs, yet this causes ANOTHER person to lose their job, goes to show this country is in a financial mess.
ok, lets do some math here:
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40 hours in a week * 52 weeks in a year/12 months = $1592.33/mo gross income/mo
$1592.33 /mo - assume 25% taxes/L&I/FICA = 1274.35 per month after taxes
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average two bedroom rent in seattle is $1944/mo  (reference below)
http://www.homedest.com/relo/QuickLinks/Seattle_Average_Apartment_Rent.pdf
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assuming a shared apartment, half rent is $ 972
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$1274.35 after-tax income - rent = 302.35 left over after taxes and rent this leaves $302.35/mo to cover utilities/electricity/food/transportation /clothing.  This estimate assumes that you are not paying for any insurance or other health care and can find a shared apartment situation.
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The numbers show that you CAN survive in Seattle on minimum wage, but it will be a very austere living and does not provide for health care of any kind. Can YOU live on $302 a month for all expenses but rent?
@lazarus The only flaw in your posting is in regards to apartment rental costs. Doing a craigslist search reveals that it's not out of the realm of possibility to find a two-bedroom in the greater Seattle area for well under the $1944. you mentioned. Heck, I've had several two bedroom apartments in Seattle and have never paid more than $750.00 per month. An apartment that costs $1944 per month is not one that a person earning minimum wage should even consider.
 @GarethB1 yeah, yeah, and i used to have a mother-in-law apartment on queen anne for $350 but those days are long gone. if you notice, the reference i cited showed the marked increase for the prior months, and their latest fig is sept 2012 - rents have risen since then.Â
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checking other references, the city of seattle's only has figures for 2010 and that number is $1138 TWO YEARS AGO. another Nov 2012 figure is $1763, another from Oct 2012 is $1979
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http://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-seattle-rent-trends/
http://www.mynewplace.com/city/seattle-apartments-for-rent-washington
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there are lots of people scratching around for the few cheaper options that are out there and, remember, you can find cheaper rents farther out of town, but then your transportation expenses rise dramatically.Â
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i still maintain that minimum wage provides for only the most austere living and provides for absolutely no health care of any kind. Â
 @dg54321 math again:
$9.19 (which is only 92% of your imaginary $10 figure), less 25% tax/FICA/L&I would equal $6.89
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this is 69% of your $10 figure. let's talk in real numbers, not inflated b.s. your numbers are erroneous along the order of 31%.
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you say, "if you can't live on $10 you are spending too much money."
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so try living on the REAL number, which is 6.89/hr take-home. good luck living on that.
 @lazarus  @GarethB1 If you can't live on almost $10/hr, you are spending too much money. No, you aren't supposed to be comfortable. But you can make ends meet. If not....then that's your failing, not a failing of your wage. And the work you are doing isn't worth any more than what you are being paid. If minimum wage paid your way, comfortably (magically, because in the real world, minimum wage sets the price of goods so minimum wage will never allow someone to be comfortable, even if they are making $20/hr, as the prices of the goods in that area will rise equally to meet the pay required by the employer selling those goods), many people would never try to do better. We are an apathetic people by nature. Just look at our government for proof of that. Besides....with food stamps, TANF, welfare, etc....there is no way that minimum wage is leaving people homeless and starving. Oh, just another way those of us who have the audacity to succeed in life are being punished for it...by being forced to pay the way of those who don't want to try. Want a better life and a fatter wallet? Learn, strive, and succeed. Want to complain, whine and cry about how life isn't fair and make employers pay inflated wages for labor due to government interference? Enjoy that economic collapse coming down the line.
 @dg54321  @lazarus  @GarethB1 There are people who will never be able to perform at a higher level due to mental or physical restrictions. These minimum wage jobs give them a level of self-respect and independence. They are doing the best they can to contribute to society.
 @dg54321  @GarethB1 so let me get this straight: people who make minimum wage are not supposed to be able to live on it, so as to give them ambition?Â
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the beatings will continue until morale improves!
 @lazarus  @GarethB1 Hence why it's called MINIMUM wage. Not LIVING wage. Everybody has lived on it. You just aren't supposed to STAY on it forever or even very long. Those that do have no right to complain about what they are getting in life because they didn't have any ambition to do better.
When everyone refuses to pay $10 for a bigmac so some illegal or high school kid with a first job can be paid a so called 'living wage' and the employers start laying those folks off because of lost wages, who will pay for all the tolls for the bridges?
It has become apparent to me that many people will not be happy until our McDonald's workers and our doctors, lawyers, corporate CEOs are all on the same pay scale. The higher income bracketed, as we all know, didn't work to get what they have and therefore don't deserve it. I just wonder who will pay the taxes once we all start making the same?
 @aintno1special I challenge you to live on $10 an hour for a month. Come back to us after you've tried it and see if you still argue that it constitutes a "living wage". It doesn't. The federal level of $7.25 an hour is an absolute joke.
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Forget going to the movies, or buying clothes, or paying rent, just try and feed yourself on that and see how far it gets you.
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A little less greed and anger, and a little more compassion would help you become a better person, which clearly you are not.
 @Bellevue Scott Well seeing I did put myself through premedical and medical school working full time on a minimum wage job, with a family in toe, and came out nearly $200K less in debt than my fellow classmates, I can assure you I have made it work. I didn't have a nice car, didn't have cable TV, nice clothes, cell phone, or any of the other luxuries we, as a society, have come to believe are a necessity. So before you pass judgement please know the subject you are judging. Other wise you come across looking a bit ignorant.
 @Bellevue Scott *tow not toe. Man I need to hire a proof reader...but @ $9.19 and hour I'd only have them work part time.
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@Bellevue Scott Don't like it? Go get an education. This is what you do when you want to better yourself. What incentive is there for someone to EVER do better if they never excced the pay of a McDonald employee? The very foundation of our country is that you can go out an BETTER yourself.Â
 @ObsidianOne Oh and BTW, I didn't go to college. I don't have a degree. I just worked really hard since I was 15 to learn everything I could and took any job where I could expand my knowledge of my field. I didn't always make good money, and at first it sucked. But after 8 years in my field I make pretty good money and have a secure job. Stop thinking a liberal arts or "communications" degree is going to get you any job at all and start working your way up the ladder, as early as you can. Go to school while working or find ways to expand your knowledge...find what you are good at and then give it your all. You won't be on top at first....you won't make good money, and you'll have to report to some jerk that you want to punch in the face. We all went through it. You are no more special than the rest of us. But when you work hard and show you are good at what you do....maybe not right away, but soon...people notice in high places. And then great things start to happen for you.Â
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Come to work with an entitlement attitude, refuse to do things outside your "job description", refuse to be flexible and expect to start at the top? Well....those are the people sitting outside camping and yelling about how the "man is keeping me down" because they got canned in short order.
 @ObsidianOne  @Bellevue The entitlement mentality of people today is sickening. Nobody OWES you a thing. You aren't OWED a livable wage. You can EARN it, if you work. When everyone is guaranteed the same wage regardless of productivity, it is clear that nobody will try to get ahead or to excel in their work. What's the incentive? Just slack off, do the bare minimum and you automatically get a raise and equal pay to the guy that busts his rear. Doesn't sound fair to me, and rewards laziness.
 @aintno1special It is asinine to think that someone working for 30-40 years should make the same wage as the person starting out at McDonalds. It is equally asinine to think that the person who worked every day of their life to get where they are is somehow evil for wanting to keep the spoils of their labor. It is the very foundation of how our economy is supposed to work. It is what kept us the leading superpower in the world for many years. "Redistribution of wealth" and "forcing the rich to give a fair share" are nice terms for socialism, and you can argue all you want but that is the truth. It's not American. It's not what this country was based on. It's not what made us successful. It will lead us to ruin.
 @dg54321  @aintno1special You are being absurd. No one is saying that someone working for 30-40 years should make the same wage as the person starting out at McDonalds. NO ONE!Â
 @dg54321  @aintno1special i'm confused. where in this article does it say "that someone working for 30-40 years should make the same wage as the person starting out at McDonalds." ? we are talking about a minuscule raise of a minimum wage. how is it that in your mind established workers are now being reduced to minimum wage? that is simply not what the article says and you are making stuff up.
 @aintno1special indeed... this mentality of low station workers receiving some sort of "living wage" is utterly deplorable.... let the McDonalds workers sneak fries to survive upon, but let there be no mistake. Their only purpose it to provide the servile labor that enriches their corporate masters... on this we agree my friend... on this we agree = )
 @TruthinAdverts I have no issue with people making a "living wage", however I don't buy into the concept that just because you show up to a job and have been for a longer period of time, you somehow are entitled to make more than the worker who has been there less time but may work harder than you. I contrast this with someone who, for whatever the reason may be, works at an "entry level" job and complains that the people who run the business/corporation are the bad guys because they are making more money.
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I have been in business for over 15 years, and spent about 12 years in school to receive my degree all the while working a minimum wage job to help minimized my debt (and I had a wife and kids while doing so..still do too). So should I feel guilty about the "excessive" amount of profit I have reaped over the years? The only difference between me and the "entry level" worker is that I put forth the effort to further my education and financial position.
Enough said, back to the salt mines...
Relax, people. It's six bucks a week per FT employee. If that somehow pushes a business over the edge into closing up shop, that will just give their competition some breathing room.Â
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It always amazes me that folks want to keep anyone else in the working class from getting any crumbs, but people think company CEO's that get tens of millions per year are just adorkable, and they "earn every penny". Aren't there other management types that can do it as well, or maybe better? Sure there are, but it's a pretty tight knit group, sitting on each other's boards of directors, looking after each other. You might say it looks like... GASP... a union!
 @Insomniac Dreams All raising minimum wage does is cause inflation and increase the size of the "lower class". Minimum wage workers often do things like deliver milk and bread to the store, now milk a bread will cost more. Everybody not making minimum wage now has to spend more to buy milk and bread, but they do not get wage increases.
 @Keysontheright  @Insomniac Dreams It does technicly help our economy, as more of the lower class get more money which they can spend on things, which increases flow through businesses, which increases wages throughout the area...but that is in theory.
 @AmFuzzy ok, then what IS it for?Â
@Jalharad @Keysontheright @Insomniac Dreams Except for the inflation caused by artificually inflating wage rates. Businesses pass on the added costs to the consumers...including those on minimum wage. Like many others have said. MINIMUM wage was never intended to be a long standing wage. It was set with the idea a person would work hard and move up in the labor force. What's happening is that people feel minimum wage should allow for a family to live of off and that's simply not what it was intended for.
 @Jalharad  @Keysontheright  @Insomniac Dreams Theory is great, but reality shows that the prices of the things those people buy just go up along with the wage increase, so in the end they really aren't doing any better than they were before, and the rest of us are doing worse. Raising the minimum wage, while well intentioned, only harms the economy and does not help it.
 @Jalharad  @Insomniac Dreams but our money becomes worth less
 @Insomniac Dreams unions are bad insomniac... we must be like Hitler and ban them all
 @TruthinAdverts  @Insomniac Dreams "We must be like Hitler and ban them all". Wow. Wow. Really. Wow. I'm so glad I'm not you. The hatred and vitriol is beyond words.
 @Darn it!  @Bellevue Scott  @TruthinAdverts  @Insomniac Dreams ; )
 @Bellevue Scott  @TruthinAdverts  @Insomniac Dreams Bellevue Scott - his sarcasm button isn't working but that is where his posts are coming from.
 @TruthinAdverts  @Insomniac Dreams So right...that's why
Uncle Sam won't allow our soldiers to form or join Union.
 @scychan  @Insomniac Dreams ah yes scychan... first the military... and then everyone else... good work my patriot brother!
 @TruthinAdverts  @Insomniac Dreams WARNING: Godwin's law now in effect
 @TruthinAdverts  @Insomniac Dreams Many unions use Nazi tactics.
 @sfvcyco  @Insomniac Dreams You see I'm with you my friend... crush the worker's voice. Yes... I agree
 @sfvcyco  @Insomniac Dreams we agree sfvyco... we must take away the workers voice if they are to be effectively crushed in the servile role in which they belong... we are in league my friend. Yes... patriots in agreement for corporate control of America we are!
 @sfvcyco  @Insomniac Dreams Well... I've yet to read about their brown shirts... but I do know Hitler eliminated the unions... and who could blame him... Unions give the rabble a voice... and nothing good can come from that