SALEM, Ore. — In an effort to stave off two potential ballot measures this fall and put to rest months of aggressive debate with a compromise, Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday proposed a phased, two-tiered hike to the state minimum wage that has the support of the legislature’s top two officials.
Under Brown’s proposal, Oregon’s statewide minimum wage of $9.25 an hour — previously the second-highest in the nation before dropping to eighth this year — would bump to $11.79 in metro Portland and to $10.25 in the rest of the state starting next year. In 2022, the Portland area’s minimum would rise again to $15.52 an hour and the remainder of the state to $13.50.
House Speaker Tina Kotek and Senate President Peter Courtney, both Democrats, called Brown’s proposal a much-needed compromise.
“I would want to do more, faster. But as a leader in this state, we have to meet as many needs as possible, and over the next six years low-wage workers would get an increase under this proposal and businesses would have predictability,” Kotek said at a news conference with Courtney.
Courtney, who opposed proposals to increase the minimum wage during last year’s legislative session, stressed his position that the issue be solved by lawmakers rather than voters.
“I don’t like making policy through the initiative process,” he said. “Everybody at this stage in the game is in a very testy, fragile situation. But they see this proposal for what it is, and that is a good-faith proposal to try and increase the minimum wage while also recognizing the economic engine of Portland.”
Whether it’ll be enough to dissuade coalitions “Oregonians for 15” and “Raise The Wage” from taking their own, separate proposals to the November ballot is unclear. Both groups are pushing for larger per-hour wage increases than Brown and on faster timelines. They also want to remove the state’s pre-emption law that prevents local districts from setting their own wage minimums, which Brown’s proposal would keep in place.
“A quick review shows that it has some positive elements — like a higher wage for some high-cost areas” but “it does not include lifting (the statewide) preemption and it lengthens the timeframe significantly, which is a concern,” Raise The Wage members said in a prepared statement Thursday.
Brown’s office said her proposal results from “conversations with stakeholders in both the public and private sectors.”
“The costs of essentials such as food, child care, and rent are rising so fast that wages can’t keep up,” Brown said in a statement. “Many Oregonians working full-time can’t make ends meet, and that’s not right.”
Brown’s proposal will be debated by the Legislature in a session that starts in February.
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