The Olympia Finance Committee is developing a potential recommendation to the city council that would raise the minimum wage in the city to at least $20 per hour as early as January 1, 2025. The committee deferred a conversation about proposing a "Workers' Bill of Rights" until next week.
Business and organization leaders that operate in the city are alarmed, both about the process and about requests from labor for even higher minimum hourly wages. More than 80 gathered this week for a "listening session" organized by the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce, the Thurston Economic Development Council and the Olympia Downtown Alliance.
Several business and organization heads have told The JOLT that a sudden jump to $20 or more would be extremely challenging. Some said that their businesses would have to raise prices to the point that they would be uncompetitive with locations in Tumwater and Lacey. None wanted to be quoted for this story.
Wages in Lacey, Tumwater and other county areas would not be affected if the City of Olympia acts to raise the minimum wage in Olympia.
At its meeting on September 16, the Finance Committee prioritized discussion of a city minimum wage that would exceed the state's minimum wage law, such as those implemented by Seattle and Seatac. The committee aims to bring an ordinance for the city council's consideration to provide higher wages for all employees within the city limits.
Assistant City Manager Stacey Ray presented a plan to the committee outlining a scope, schedule, and calendar for touch points with the full council on the issue of minimum wage increase.
During the discussion, Councilmember Jim Cooper advocated for a $20 per hour minimum wage. He said this amount is an aggressive but reasonable starting point for Olympia. The councilmember added that the current federal and state minimum wages are "criminal" and do not allow anyone to live in any part of the United States. The U.S. and Washington minimum wage rates are $7.25 and $16.28 per hour, respectively. Washington's minimum wage will increase to $16.66 an hour on January 1, 2025, a 38-cents-per-hour increase, the state Department of Labor and Industries announced Monday.
Councilmember Clark Gilman questioned whether the proposed $20 minimum wage was appropriate. He said the city should consider research data that consider living costs, such as rent, food, and healthcare when determining an appropriate minimum wage level.
Gilman suggested that Olympia research other calculations, such as the ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) report from MIT and the University of Washington, to determine what constitutes a true "livable wage."
Ray identified the focus areas and approach the city plans to take to address the issue, including examining the potential legal requirements or implications and researching other Washington cities that have taken similar actions.
She added they would conduct outreach and engagement with stakeholders.
For October and November, Ray said that the city will conduct targeted outreach and informational engagement with labor groups, non-profit organizations, the Thurston County Chamber of Commerce, the Thurston Economic Development Council, the Olympia Downtown Association, and the West Olympia Business Association.
While Gilman does not oppose gathering input from the employer community, he cautioned against letting businesses "decide what is possible."
"My one little pushback in this plan is that we have explicitly named business groups and named people who would be advocating for working-class people and poor people." Gilman noted, "we have a chamber of commerce consultant to do the research. It feels to me pretty loaded towards asking if employers would like to pay more. I don't know if that's helpful."
He suggested bringing in economic experts to assess the implications and benefits of increasing the minimum wage and examine the "whole ecosystem of all of the people and the money."
On Monday, the committee will discuss a potential "Workers' Bill of Rights."
Councilmember Cooper said the issues of workplace safety protections and scheduling work are more complex than the minimum wage, which is a straightforward policy change.
Committee members said they want to make sure to "get the rest of it right" regarding the Workers' Bill of Rights policies.
Cooper emphasized the importance of not just focusing on the needs of one industry, such as grocery workers, but instead supporting a wide range of workers across Olympia. "All industries have changed dramatically. We want to make sure that we are not missing something significant."
Meanwhile, Ray provided a schedule for the minimum wage increase process:
The Finance Committee plans to discuss the Workers' Bill of Rights at its special meeting on Monday, October 7, starting at 3 p.m. Use this link to register to attend.
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JulesJames
I was a shopkeeper in Seattle when City Council started down this path. Sold my store. Too much of my business model involved giving kids their first employment. Teaching them the value of being on time to work. How to say "thank you" to an adult sincerely. How to sweep or re-stock when business was slow. A few months working for me earned their parents' everlasting praise and customer loyalty. At $20 an hour, I can't train a kid. Olympia City Council must be thinking shopkeepers aren't worth keeping around anymore.
Thursday, October 3 Report this
OlyBlues
Great plan by long-term councilman Jim Cooper to saddle more small businesses with increased labor costs at a time when record inflation by his Democratic party is affecting people's ability to survive let aloe make ends meet. I don't know why anyone would want to be a business owner in Olympia. Look no further than this misguided, Olympia knows best policy.
Friday, October 4 Report this
Fraudguy
Quit with this socialistic garbage. Government needs to stop ordering businesses how to run their shops. If they aren't paying a high enough wage, people won't work there and the business will either increase wages or fail. That's a "minimum wage." What you are proposing will drive businesses out of the community or cause them to close all together. Shame on the council for trying to kill capitalism.
Friday, October 4 Report this
Southsoundguy
Why is the council copying more garbage from Seattle? Clearly there is no one in charge.
Friday, October 4 Report this
Amyruns1
At what point is Olympia City Council going to look at the mental crisis and addiction crisis occurring in Olympia? Are you enablers or do you just deny it is occurring. Stay in your lane and do your job! Seriously.
Friday, October 4 Report this
JW
"While Gilman does not oppose gathering input from the employer community, he cautioned against letting businesses "decide what is possible.""
This is the epitome of Washington government. You don't know what's best for you. WE do. Now shut up and take your medicine.
Friday, October 4 Report this
JasonS
The average individual income in Seattle is 63,167. The average individual income in Olympia is 40, 585. There is no need to adjust the minimum wage here at all, and DEFINITELY not to the levels of a city with a significantly higher cost of living than ours.
The kind "head tax" that Seattle suggested and briefly passed before Amazon had it killed would have been a more appropriate idea to borrow. And since the cost of living has gone up dramatically because our area has seen a large influx of millionaires moving here from other states, we could consider restoring the tax code so that they are paying their fair share.
To saddle small businesses with a huge burden like this proposed minimum-wage jump will end up causing more of them to fail, and anyone who has lived here longer than five minutes has seen many of them come and go. We need to stop putting the burden on smaller mom-and-pop shops to make up the difference for fiscal failures in other aspects of society and government.
Friday, October 4 Report this
BradPax
Are there any business owners on the council? I looked them up and there didn't appear to be. I saw government and non-profit type employees. I deal with independent business owners in my job and can tell you they are some of the hardest working people there are. They've sunk their money, blood, sweat, and tears into their businesses. And to have people that have never met a payroll and know nothing about how to run a business, or of the tenuousness of many small businesses, hammering them is so wrong. This is a really bad idea.
Friday, October 4 Report this
longtimeresident
If the owners of apartment rentals, some of whom have never set foot in this state, would lower the rent they charge by $200/month and food corporations stopped gouging the customer with some insane prices for a lot of foods, and health care costs dropped dramatically (and that includes insurance premiums), the Council would not have to even consider the cost of lifting the minimum wage to $20/hr. There is an owner of an apartment complex in Lacey - he lives out of town but still in Washington - and he is able to meet all his obligations with the most reasonable rent you can imagine. Does he have better business sense or is he just not greedy?
Sunday, October 6 Report this