New bill would respond to growing evidence that higher wages are good for the economy by striking down existing minimum wage laws
Working Washington releases the following statement in response to the news that Senator Michael Baumgartner has introduced a bill which would strike down existing local minimum wage & paid sick days laws, and eliminate local authority to pass new labor standards in the future:
Pro-poverty wage extremists like Senator Michael Baumgartner aren't afraid that a higher minimum wage will hurt the economy... they're terrified of the growing evidence that local economies thrive when wages rise. After all, what else could possibly be more threatening to their make-the-rich-get-richer political agenda?
Seattle's minimum wage is on the way to $15, and the local economy is booming: the city is growing, unemployment is near record lows, restaurants are opening at a torrid pace.
Seattle is living evidence of the common sense principle that higher wages and good for the economy, because more people with more money means more customers for more businesses. And of course that has people like Senator Baumgartner terrified — with all this evidence that the sky remains aloft, where is the trickle-down lobby's next Henny Penny routine going to come from? That's the only reasonable explanation for why he's proposing legislation which would strike down all existing local minimum wage laws, paid sick time laws, and other labor standards.
Baumgartner may be calling this a "quarantine", but his proposal is actually an amputation of workers rights law. And if he actually thinks this will help the economy... it might be time for him to get checked for hallucinations. Because he may be the last one who doesn't see the reality of how higher wages raise up everyone.
(Even the Washington Restaurant Association is starting to get it!)
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Contact: Sage Wilson, Working Washington: sage@workingwa.org