Minimum wage gap grows wider between states
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - 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.
Minimum-wage workers in Idaho will make nearly $2 an hour less in 2013 than their counterparts living just one state to the west.
Automatic increases designed to compensate for inflation have steadily pushed up wages in some states, even through the recession, expanding the pay gap between areas that make annual adjustments and those that don't. Of the 10 states that will increase the minimum wage Tuesday, nine did so automatically to adjust for inflation.
Rhode Island lawmakers approved that state's wage increase in the past year.
Paul Sonn, legal co-director at the National Employment Law Project, said he hopes more states will start looking at automatic adjustments as the economy recovers. He said the model — which Washington state adopted in 1998 — helps avoid sudden jolts as states try to catch up with each other.
"We think there's a case that it's better for everyone, including the business community, to have predictable, regular, small increases every year," Sonn said.
The automatic adjustments aren't much. Washington's bump will mean those who work 40-hour weeks will earn an extra $6 a week — enough for a couple lattes — or about $300 a year.
Hundreds of thousands of workers are expected to get a pay increase with the wage adjustments that begin New Year's Day. Along with Washington and Rhode Island, the changes will occur in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon and Vermont.
Among the nine states with automatic adjustments, the average minimum wage is $8.12 an hour, up from a little under $8. States that do not have automatic changes operate with an average minimum wage of about $7.40 — a difference of about $1,500 a year for a full-time worker.
Many states, including Idaho, follow the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, either because they've tied their minimum wage to that threshold or because the state-enacted minimum is lower than that.
San Francisco has set the highest local minimum wage and will have workers paid at least $10.55 an hour in 2013.
Groups such as the National Restaurant Association oppose further increases in federal or state minimum wages, arguing that it's an ineffective way to reduce poverty and forces business owners to cut hours, raise prices or lay off workers.
At Tom's 1st Avenue Bento, a downtown Portland lunch spot, owner Tom Hume said he boosted pay for minimum-wage workers before the end of the year in order to get ahead of the game. He also raised prices on one-third of his menu items by 25 cents.
Natasha Baker, 22, who works at Hume's restaurant in Portland, recently moved back in with her mother but hopes to move to another apartment in January. She said the extra $5 or $6 she's earning every week with the salary boost is OK but won't make a huge difference.
"I don't usually look at what I get paid," she said. "I'm more directed on what's being taken out, which is more discouraging than anything."
In Montpelier, Vt., restaurant owner Irene Facciolo said she supported the 14-cents-an-hour increase in the minimum wage for her employees. She said the move from $8.46 to $8.60 an hour wasn't much.
"We don't have a problem with it at all," Facciolo said.
___
AP Writers Steven Dubois in Portland, Ore., and Dave Gram in Montpelier, Vt., contributed to this report. AP Writer Mike Baker can be reached on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/HiPpEV
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Obozo is removing the Federal workers pay freeze. Now all those poor over worked under paid legislators will get a raise. Even Joe Biden. Makes me want to puke? I can't believe anyone complains when minimum wage increases. Minimum wage people experience inflation woes like everyone else.
Minimum wage in Arkansas is 6.25/hour. I said that just to irritate the people who don't like comparing wages from state to state. If a business does more than 500k then they have to pay the federal min wage at 7.25.
It's a "get rich slow" program.
It really don't matter if the minimum wage went up or not. Thanks to obozocare, part-time hours will become the new norm, because as of 1/1/13, it will become exorbitantly expensive for a small business to hire full time employees, and some businesses are even reducing their full time employee count to part time.
For an employer to higher me it would cost the 20 an hour, I have a son who has a speical diet and would have to cover the need for his specialized food which is about 250 bucks a case per month, there are 4 cans to each case and we get 3 cases which is about 750 bucks per-month for our son. This is if we chose to pay for it our selves and not have the state do it.
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Then we would have our cost of the rent per-month and then gas for the car , for this area it would be less then what it would be in a major city. shorter distances to get to the jobs.
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My fiance and I both have medications that we would have to pay for out of pocket as well.
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Our car is simple and I would have to include insurance.
Our pets wouldn't count for the expenses as they are variable on there needs. would have to set up a separate savings for them.
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I come to 20 an hour because it would meet all the needs of the family.
But would an employer higher me at this rate? Probably not. Could I even make it on 10.00 an hour..Hell no.
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Plus instead of getting paid every other week, I would ask to be paid Monthly.
Comparing Minimum wages in states is like Comparing SSDI In Washington Vs SSDI in Alaska.
A very biased article. comparing wages from state to state makes no sense.
Comparing minimum wages across state lines is statistically worthless.
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States cost of living change significantly and that is what is relevant in comparing minimum wage.
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For example the cost of living in New York City compared to Hot Springs Arkansas is about 127% higher. A salary in NYC of $50k is equal to a salary of $22k in Hot Springs.
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Minimum wage in NYC and Hot Springs is $7.25 an hour. WIth the cost of living factored in getting $7.25 an hour in Hot Springs is the equivalent of $16.50 an hour in NYC.
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In this case the person getting $7.25 in Hot Springs is much better off than the person in NYC. In fact a person making minimum wage could buy a home in Hot Springs but not in NYC which has a 380% higher home cost than Hot Springs.
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So comparing minimum wage across state lines means nothing.
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 @RalphCramden You just showed up KATU and the Media.. LOL good job.
@RalphCramden """""So comparing minimum wage across state lines means nothing"""""
But is gives the liberal mind such a warm fuzzy feeling, and really...... thats what counts :)
 @RalphCramdenÂ
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It's not really about comparing minimum wages, it's about comparing how those wages change.
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In states that don't have COLA for their wage adjustments annually, when their legislature enacts them, they are large jumps. Often more than $1.
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Now as a businessman I know you understand that such a large increase that you did not expect would really hurt.
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Thus the story explains that there is a benefit long term to having COLA that is based on the CPI. This means you can easily figure out what increases if any will occur and plan ahead of those each year rather than waiting for the legislature to enact some seemingly arbitrary number to being at some seemingly arbitrary time.
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The end goal of this story is the advocating of annual CPI adjustments for all states and the federal government.
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 @RepomanÂ
They are still comparing wages in different states with increases and those states that don't have increases.
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Government changes the method on how they calculate minimum wage and many times they quietly go for the one that gives the lowest increase. They are doing that with SS.
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In many states they need to increase minimum wage 20% and in others they can leave it alone. The federal minimum wage will not be good enough in highly regulated states where government has influenced the cost of living like California. California has the some of the highest rates of energy in the US mainland because of their requirements to use more alternative energy. The property tax is also very high which helps drive out the poor and into subsidized housing.
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If one looks at states with the highest cost of living (excepting Alaska and Hawaii which are expensive just because of the location) they are states that have a very high government presence and control.
 If the goal of minimum wage is to reduce poverty...... why not make the minimum wage $20
 @kramr Because corporations are greedy and they don't want to shell out more then they have to. When they save money there execs get cushy pay offs and cushy retirements.
 @kramr Heaven forbid that any one or thing should interfere with that.
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 @kramr "Reduce".
What management is telling you when they pay you minimum wage is.......
We'd like to pay you less, but we can't - Chris Rock
If you want more than minimum wage do more than minimum wage work.
 @NGerblansky What if you can't find more than minimum wage work or don't have the necessary skills or training required for more than minimum wage work?Â
 @PDXguy23 Then I guess you're stuck making minimum wage until something changes.
 @lee986321  No. Major corporations have shareholders to answer to and have the same costs that smaller employers have in addition to higher corporate taxes (the highest in the world in fact), obamacare surcharges, etc. No employer can afford to pay an employee more than the job is worth - regardless of size of the employer. Any business that does that fails (unless they can be bailed out by taxpayers).
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What is the purpose of a job? To get you money? No, it's to fill a need for a good a service that a business provides. And that is driven by what the consumer is willing to pay. What you "need" to live on is important to you but less so to an employer.
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Minimum wage is supposed to suck so that you want to improve your skillset to get a better job. But instead we're trying to turn them into living wage jobs. All you end up doing is driving costs up to consumers to pay for those higher salaries and reducing the total number of jobs/hours available due to higher cost of labor.
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Most of us reading this think back to our minimum wage days and wouldn't have been able to dream about buying a new car on those wages. A used clunker sure but a new car? It seems today people want what they see everyone else possess but they don't take into account the vast difference in salary it took to get there...
@lee986321 @NGerblansky @PDXguy23Â Â
"""""Basically all your "Fixed income" and important things. Total it up, and then figure out what that comes to per-hour in a 40 hour work week. Then try and start a negotiation with the employer.""""
 so for instance if I lose my job and my fixed expenses are $4500 a month (which is actually a bit  low)I should start negotiating with Mickey D's at $25 an hour to work the counter? Conversely, some teen living with their parents with  no fixed expenses should work for nothing or very little???
Ya see, your thought process is  completely backwards...... one needs to think in terms of how much value would one  adds to a  company.  Flipping burgers is not a special skill and does not require any sort of education so why would it ever pay more than minimum wage or slightly above it?
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 @lee986321 They aren't cheating anybody. Nobody is holding a gun to their heads and making them work for a certain wage. If you don't like it, go work somewhere else.
 @NGerblansky  @PDXguy23 Some one once told me, in order to have accurate pay, you need to total up your bills like your housing costs, child care , food for the family or self , gas to and from work (weekly basis) , Electricity.. Basically all your "Fixed income" and important things. Total it up, and then figure out what that comes to per-hour in a 40 hour work week. Then try and start a negotiation with the employer. If the employer won't negotiate then there is a problem especially if it is a major employer like Wall Mart or
Mc Donalds. what needs to happen is that employers need to start forking out the dough if the want labor. MC Donalds food has increased in cost there employees rates have not. Maybe it is time to let employers know we are not slaves.
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I can understand smaller businesses paying less to there employees. the have costs to. But major operations are cheating people out of a livelihood and it needs to end.