- 5 more states vote on minimum wages as federal wage stalls, By Kristen Wyatt (AP), October 18, 2016, Arizona Daily Sun: “Congress’ inaction on the $7.25 hourly minimum wage is again playing out on state ballots, with voters in four states considering an increase and another considering wages for the youngest workers, even though the states already exceed the federal. In some cases voters are also deciding whether to add sick-leave policies to help the working poor. The ballot proposals in Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington come two years after voters in five other states passed minimum-wage hikes. South Dakota voters are taking a second crack at wages, two years after raising them to $8.50 an hour…”
- Florida minimum wage rising to $8.10 an hour in 2017, By Marcia Heroux Pounds, October 17, 2016, Sun Sentinel: “Florida is raising its minimum wage to $8.10 an hour beginning Jan. 1, up 5 cents from $8.05 in 2016, the state Department of Economic Opportunity has announced. For tipped employees, the minimum wage will be at least $5.08 an hour…”
- Measure to lift minimum wage to $13.50 statewide has Washington divided, By Janet I. Tu, October 15, 2016, Seattle Times: “For Martha Camargo Castañeda, an agricultural worker in Wapato, Yakima County, an increase in the state minimum wage would mean she could afford a few more basics for herself and her son. She makes $10 an hour at her full-time job and counts on food stamps to make ends meet. She juggles the bills to decide each month whether she’ll pay, say, the electric or water bill…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty