The Patriot Post® · Seattle Plans $15 Min. Wage

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is pushing ahead with a campaign promise to radically raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. Council members will begin deliberations next week on the measure, which would be implemented “through a series of complex and phased-in stages,” reports The New York Times. “Some workers would get to $15 an hour as early as 2017, with a cost-of-living adjustment after that tied to the Consumer Price Index, while other workers, at smaller companies, would not see $15 until 2021. Washington already has the highest statewide minimum wage in the nation, at $9.32.” The proposal has support from most of the City Council, so it’s nearly guaranteed to get the green light. According to Murray, “We are going to decrease the poverty rate in the city by raising the minimum wage. We are going to improve lives of workers who can barely afford to live in the city.” That will come as little solace to those who won’t be able to find a job.