“It’s going to be months” before anything is done on it, Inslee said, noting that he is continuing to talk to legislators about the larger issue of raising the minimum wage by up to $2.50 an hour, which he hopes will still advance in the 60-day legislative session that ends March 13. “Given the make-up of the state Senate, you can’t be optimistic it is going to pass the state Senate this year,’’ Inslee said.

That’s probably a safe bet. But the governor thinks he can act unilaterally, like the mayor of Seattle did. I’m not sure how that would work or where he gets the authority. Perhaps a Senate opponent of the increase will look into that.

Although Inslee thinks he could raise the minimum wage for contractors and employees by executive order, he said “ultimately you’d need a way to finance that.’’

Shannon identifies the fiscal consequences, which we wrote about here.

… a $10 minimum wage could add $240,000 in costs to higher education institutions next year, with another $404,000 for student employees. Another $141,000 impact on K-12 schools is estimated at the $10 per hour level, and $558,000 is estimated for some Department of Social and Health Services vendors and workers who provide care in nursing facilities and to the developmentally disabled.

It’s pretty clear that “ultimately you’d need a way to finance that” means a tax hike. With education funding still a challenge, including the potential loss of $44 million in federal money, raising taxes to boost the minimum wage for state workers seems an odd and late-breaking priority.