Seattle Times, 1/26/2016
Calling higher minimum wages “a disaster for small business owners,” a GOP state lawmaker Tuesday introduced a bill to strike down local laws like Seattle’s $15-per-hour measure.
[...]
In a statement, the advocacy organization Working Washington described lawmakers like Baumgartner as “pro-poverty wage extremists.”
Seattle is evidence that higher wages are good for the economy, “because more people with more money means more customers for more businesses,” said Sage Wilson, communications director for Working Washington.
In a show of how far the minimum-wage movement has advanced, the Washington Restaurant Association said in November that it now actively supports raising the state’s minimum wage.