Endorsements and editorials are made solely by the ownership of this newspaper. As is the case at most newspapers across the nation, The Spokesman-Review newsroom and its editors are not a part of this endorsement process. (Learn more.)

Editorial: Recipe for minimum wage hike elusive

Sun., Nov. 8, 2015

With a higher minimum wage on the menus of more local governments, the Washington Restaurant Association wants the Legislature back in the kitchen.

The staunch foe of Seattle’s $15-an-hour minimum last week issued a statement calling for wage increases “done the right way.”

The announcement came two days after Tacoma voters rejected a $15-an-hour rate there, but supported a bump to $12 that will be rolled in over two years.

Just two years ago, a single minimum – $9.19 an hour – prevailed statewide. That was the highest in the nation, and two subsequent cost-of-living increases have since lifted the rate to $9.47. There will be no increase Jan.1, and other states will overtake Washington for No. 1.

But the lid in Washington really came off two years ago, when a majority of fewer than 100 votes out of 6,000 cast supported an increase to $15 in SeaTac. That tiny margin was enough to move Seattle’s City Council to adopt the same rate in June 2014,to be rolled out over several years.

Last week, Spokane rejected the most extreme of minimum wage increase – to a least $17 an hour – but the proposal was apparently enough to get Mayor David Condon on board with the restaurant association’s call on the Legislature to reset a state level that would eliminate wage creep from city to city.

“I am concerned about Washington businesses competing on a level playing field,” he said in the association statement. “I’m equally concerned about establishing a unique city-by-city wage and benefit regulation.”

Spokane would have been tremendously disadvantaged in the pursuit of new business investment – Condon’s priority – had the city leapfrogged to minimum wage capital of the United States.

Tacoma’s mayor emphasizes the confusion and inefficiency that could result from a profusion of local wage and benefit regulations.

Clearly, that is where the restaurant association is coming from, along with a recognition that the local appeal of higher wages is almost irresistible.

The association hurt its own cause with its dire warnings restaurants in Seattle would fold like paper napkins if the $15 minimum wage passed. They haven’t, and Thursday’s statement acknowledged industry members are adapting to the higher wage environment.

“We are already seeing how some restaurants are making innovative changes,” association President Anthony Anton said.

But what is a statewide wage level that will satisfy the grassroots call for compensation that more closely matches cost-of-living? A recent survey found Eastern Washington residents have more buying power with the existing minimum than do those of most any other city in the country.

How much more can businesses in border communities like Spokane and Vancouver absorb before Idaho and Oregon look like greener pastures?

If the Legislature does act, it will have to preempt future local wage initiatives, or no statewide level will hold. There will always be plenty of cooks who want to tweak the recipe.

To respond to this editorial online, go to www.spokesman.com and click on Opinion under the Topics menu.