Gov. Kate Brown signed a bill Wednesday enacting a largest-in-the-nation minimum wage increase.
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15 Now Oregon, the group that’s been pushing a $15 statewide minimum wage, is taking stock of its backing now that Oregon’s on the verge of the highest statewide minimum wage in the country (in the most rural district, it’ll be $12.50 by 2022), says activist Justin Norton-Kertson. The first tier is the base wage, which is now $9.25 and will increase to $13.50 by 2022.
OR now joins the bandwagon of other 14 states that have increased minimum wage in a span of two years.
The bill passed by Oregon’s Democratic-led legislature and signed by Governor Kate Brown, also a Democrat, seeks to strike a balance by setting different pay tiers based on geography.
But the legislation is dividing labor activists in OR and nationally, with some arguing it doesn’t go far enough.
“It’s bad enough that this unfortunate law will prompt small-business owners to halt hiring, start cutting back hours for workers, start eliminating overtime, or even make layoffs, but her silence on the ballot initiative only adds to the anxiety Oregon’s entrepreneurs are already experiencing”.
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In other parts of the state, the coast, Willamette Valley and Cascade foothills, the minimum wage will top out at $13.50 an hour. Meanwhile, critics believe that the new law could harm businesses that are still trying to get on track after the nation’s recession. They say workers need help now, not 6 years from now. GOP lawmakers said it would harm businesses.
