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Campaign for higher minimum wage inspired by the Occupy movement?

That’s one conclusion that could be drawn from this excellent NW News Network story by Austin Jenkins. But David Rolf of the Service Employees International Union says there was something missing: “Occupy didn’t have a long term theory of how to make change and it didn’t have very crisp demands.” Rolf says that started to […]

Minimum wage muddle: Part 2 – Dueling Washington Post columnists; Samuelson gets it right

One thing nearly everyone who follows politics understands intuitively is that it’s rarely a good idea to take advice from someone who wants to see you lose. So it’s unlikely that many conservatives will pay much attention to E. J. Dionne’s column telling them that “raising the minimum wage is the right idea for the […]

Minimum wage muddle: Part 1 – the evolving SeaTac story and a border tale

The Seattle Times takes a look at the effects of SeaTac Proposition 1 and finds, well, not much yet. Six weeks after the new hourly minimum standard took effect at some hotels and parking lots in SeaTac, proponents and opponents alike say any evidence to gauge its impact is still anecdotal. At the Clarion Hotel […]

Raising the minimum wage would increase state costs. Who knew?

It looks like HB 2672, the bill that would raise the statewide minimum wage, won’t come to a vote on the House floor. Or maybe it will. As Publicola reports, Rep. Jessyn Farrell’s (D-46, N. Seattle) bill to boost the state minimum wage from $9.32 to $12 by 2017 failed to come up for a […]

Wages and benefits should be considered as parts of total compensation

Last week I wrote about a series of posts from Sasha Volokh on the California rule for public pensions. Since then, he has added a post asking “Are public-sector employees ‘overpaid’?” This is a perennial question. Volokh mentions several studies on the issue and concludes, “I’m inclined to think that public-sector workers tend to be […]

Washington House committee votes to make it harder to outsource

Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee passed (14-13) HB 2473, a labor-initiated bill that would make it more difficult for state agencies to outsource work. From the bill report, here’s a bit of what it requires: Requires agencies to prepare a written record of the basis of the decision and a comprehensive impact assessment when contracting out […]

What's the right minimum wage? How about $5 an hour?

We’ve heard a lot of talk about where the minimum wage should be set to increase economic opportunity and provide an adequate income for low wage workers. Gov. Inslee has talked about bumping it a buck or two. The president and some in Congress want the federal minimum wage set at $10.10. In Seattle they’re […]

It's a competitive world: Management prof recommends Microsoft move to San Francisco

It’s no secret that much of the world covets Washington’s twin economic engines, aerospace and technology, anchored by Boeing and Microsoft. And it’s no secret that this state occasionally takes its prosperity for granted. Every so often, Boeing will remind lawmakers that complacency is not a prize-winning strategy. But for the most part, Olympia tends […]

Stats on minimum wage workers

With proposals to increase the minimum wage in the state, there’s a lot of discussion about who the minimum wage workers are. For example, see this Everett Herald op-ed by Reps. Luis Moscoso and Mike Sells. We’ve written on it as well; see here and here. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of workers […]

Minimum wage bill passes out of House committee; closing skills gap a better solution

Yesterday, on a 5-4 party line vote, the House Labor and Workforce Development Committee passed HB 2672, which would raise the statewide minimum wage to $12. Committee passage was expected. Whether there are the votes in the full House to increase the wage is somewhat in doubt. And it’s a certainty that the Senate will […]