State Minimum Wages

Posted on January 3, 2012 by townsend

• Minimum wage milestone: Why Washington State surpassed $9 an hour, By Aaron Lester, January 2, 2012, Christian Science Monitor: “Low-wage earners have a little more to celebrate this new year, at least in eight states. In those states, 2012 means a higher minimum wage, under laws that peg the wage floor to inflation. The increase makes Washington the first state to set its minimum wage higher than $9 an hour. Why Washington? Why now? Simple. Washington pegs its minimum wage to the consumer price index, says Paul Sonn of the National Employment Law Project. That means whenever the cost of living increases, so does the minimum wage there  Nine other states do the same. (One of them, Missouri, opted for no change this year, and Nevada’s increase won’t kick in until midyear, leaving eight states where the minimum wage rose as of Jan. 1.) But Washington has been using that CPI-based formula since 2001, longer than any other state, and that’s why its hourly wage is highest…”
• Raising the minimum wage: Whom does it help?, By Martin Kaste, January 3, 2012, National Public Radio: “For some of America’s lowest-paid workers, the new year means a pay raise. Some states set their own minimum wages, above the federal rate of $7.25 an hour, and that rekindles an old debate over whether minimum wages make sense – especially at a time of high unemployment. Like several other states, Washington state’s minimum wage is indexed to the cost of living. This year, the formula has raised the statewide minimum from $8.67 to $9.04 an hour, making it the nation’s highest statewide rate…”