By Lori Raab
Salem, Ore. – When session in Oregon starts soon lobbyists for the left leaning Oregon Center for Public Policy plan to push lawmakers for a raise in the minimum wage.
Chuck Sheketoff is the Executive Director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy.
“The problem is, the minimum wage is too low- and that’s what Oregonians are concerned about and that’s why legislators are likely to be considering a bump in the minimum – because no one who works full time should be struggling to get by, yet at the current minimum wage families are still in poverty and still can’t make ends meet.”
On January 1st the wage went up .15 cents in Oregon to $9.25 an hour. Sheketoff says that is still not enough for the many working poor families.
“We will be informing them about the impacts of minimum wage how it relates to poverty standards and other standards and whether or not its enough for people to ‘get by’ and we will be lobbying legislators to do something about it as well.”
A bump in the minimum would impact many people in Central Oregon working in jobs at the bottom of the pay scale. While he doesn’t have the specific numbers broken down by regions, Sheketoff says with Central Oregon’s tourism based economy there is probably a high percentage of these workers.
“I do know that one of the largest minimum wage industries is the restaurant and bar industry- they have more minimum wage workers than other industries, and they are also the second lowest paying industry in the private sector industries in state and that’s why we need to raise the minimum wage in the state, the industry is doing good, it’s projected to be doing good..”
Meantime- Restaurant Association claims a higher minimum wage in Oregon compared to the national average and other states means fewer jobs.
“The data shows that over the last several years since Oregon’s minimum wage rose above the national, it appears that restaurant owners have changed their business model to employ fewer individuals.” (from politifact)
Oregon’s minimum wage is the 2nd highest in the nation, behind Washington State, which is at 9.47 an hour and also adjusts for inflation each year like Oregon does. The bump impacts 142,000 people in Oregon directly, but will also probably affects others near the bottom of the pay scale who might also expect a pay increase.
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