Oregon legislative Democrats float $17-an-hour minimum wage [View all]

Five Democrats in the Oregon Legislature have filed a bill that would dramatically increase the state’s minimum wage, from as low as $11.50 an hour in some places to $17 an hour statewide.

That works out to a little more than $35,000 a year for someone working 40 hours a week, beginning next year. The bill would do away with existing regional differences in Oregon’s minimum wage that were created to insulate businesses from higher expenses in rural areas where the cost of living is lower.

Although the proposed minimum wage hike has five co-sponsors, they are all in their first year in the Legislature and Democratic leaders have not listed the bill among their priorities. That probably means it has little chance of passing – especially if Republicans were to threaten another walkout to block it.

Just 1 in 15 Oregon jobs pay the minimum wage, according to the latest state data. The hourly minimum goes up every year under provisions of a bill passed in 2016, rising to $14 an hour this summer in the Portland area (and less in other parts of the state.)

Read more: https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2021/03/oregon-legislative-democrats-float-17-minimum-wage.html