State Minimum Wages

Minimum wage gap grows wider between states, By Mike Baker (AP), December 31, 2012, Kansas City Star: “With a bump in the Washington state minimum wage to $9.19 an hour, high school student Miranda Olson will edge closer to her goal of buying the black Volkswagen Beetle she’s been researching online. Olson is only able to pick up part-time hours working at a cafe after classes and on weekends. But the extra pennies she’ll earn in 2013 will add up over the coming weeks and months. ‘It’s not much, but it’s something,’ said Olson, 16, who works at Wagner’s European Bakery and Cafe in Olympia. ‘Every bit helps.’ Many workers around the country won’t be as lucky as residents of Washington state, which is raising its minimum wage Tuesday by 15 cents an hour even though it already has the highest state baseline in the country…”