Employers, Consumers Buckle Up for the Biggest Minimum Wage in the Country

The Seattle Times published an article about the new Seattle minimum wage that goes into effect January 1, 2025 to $20.29 hour, the highest in the country. Just a couple months ago, the King County Council also voted in the $20.29 minimum wage, impacting only businesses in Unincorporated King County.

Will other cities follow suit? Will economic pressures force other businesses to increase their wages to remain competitive?

No doubt, Seattle and surrounding communities have some of the highest living costs in the country, in part due to the policies forcing the cost of housing to skyrocket. My own community that's 25 miles outside of Seattle has a home ownership cost that's 20 percent higher than the rest of King County. That makes rentals more unaffordable too and a contributing factor in that 80 percent of our 10,000 workforce commute in to fill our jobs.

How much higher will our minimum wage be? Let's compare ourselves to other jurisdictions: Washington D.C. $17.50; Los Angeles $17.64; Chicago $16.00; Denver $17.29 (except tipped workers $15.79); Miami $15.00; Boston, MA and Portland, OR $16.50.

In passing the new minimum wage in a 7-2 vote, one of the King County councilmembers commented that it wouldn't impact the farmers they spoke with, in fact they were already paying that and as much as double. Additionally, smaller employers-those with under $2 million in sales and employing less than 50 employees-would get a break. $3 an hour in year one, $2 in year two, and $1 in year three to gradually ease into the new wage.

Furthermore, six months into the new wage hike, King County will survey the businesses to determine the impact that had been imposed. If I were a farmer, that wouldn't be very helpful to know until after a complete harvest cycle. And here's another fact, once an employer goes out of business or stops hiring, it is very doubtful those jobs will magically reappear.

The restaurateurs that testified before both the Seattle and King County councils, and those I have spoken with are livid. Neither the Seattle and King County minimum wage consider that tips will almost double what servers and staff are currently receiving in actual wages. Want more proof? Check out The Seattle Times article: https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/why-seattle-restaurant-owners-are-sounding-alarms-ahead-of-wage-hike/

Even in the good intentions of some politicians, increasing the minimum wage means fewer entry-level jobs for first time jobseekers, teenagers getting their first work experience. The liberal politicians will often confuse this with single-wage earners trying to raise a family while contending with our already misdirected public policies that cause rents to be sky-high.

In speaking with farmers and restaurant owners I know, the reality is they need to turn a profit, and the two biggest expenses are wages and occupancy (that's rent or mortgage and property taxes). In the words of one such employer, I'm going to stop hiring teenagers and now I'll need to pay $25 an hour so I get a better pool of workers. For others, that break of $3 an hour means losing out to larger employers paying more.

That's the reality. Either we need the politicians making these decisions to think differently, or we need politicians who understand the true impact of governmental policies that impact our economy.