Voters: We're all better off with a strong minimum wage

In 1998 Washington had the lowest minimum wage on the West Coast -- nationwide, only 15 states had a lower minimum wage. I-688 received two-thirds of the electorate supported, making the minimum wage the most popular ballot issue in 1998. The minimum wage initiative was the only initiative to win in every single county in our state.

Initiative 688 -- the Paycheck Protection Act -- was a 1998 ballot measure that increased Washington State's minimum wage to $5.70 per hour on January 1, 1999 and to $6.50 per hour on January 1, 2000. Thereafter, the minimum wage adjusted annually by the rate of inflation.

The primary impetus to increase the minimum wage is to enable people who work full-time to earn their way out of poverty. The intent of Congress when initiating a federal minimum wage was to assure "the maintenance of the minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency, and general well-being of workers" through the minimum wage.

Inflation adjustments help safeguard purchasing power for low-income workers, and today, Washington's minimum wage law helps ensure workers earning the minimum wage don't lose economic ground to inflation.

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Featured Publication

Still Working Well: Washington's Minimum Wage and the Beginnings of Economic Recovery

01.02.2004 | Critics of Washington's groundbreaking minimum wage law have repeatedly pointed to our state's relatively high minimum wage as a cause of our higher than average unemployment rate. However, the data do not support a causal connection. Full Report »

Legislation

Initiative 688

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