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OUR VIEW Our View: Minimum wage compromise a good start Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Jun. 19, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Jun 19, 2015 at 8:50 AM Posted Jun. 19, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Jun 19, 2015 at 8:50 AM » Social News Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek's minimum wage proposal attempts to strike a balance on the issue by raising the minimum by less than advocates want but lifting a state ban on cities setting their own higher minimums. She's on the right track, although the issue is unlikely to gain much traction this late in the session. Oregon already has the nation's second-highest minimum wage at $9.25, just behind Washington's $9.47. It also increases automatically with the consumer price index. Still, a case can be made for increasing it. Contrary to the claims of some opponents, minimum wage earners are not all teenagers living with their parents. More than half are over 24; 88 percent are over 20, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Many adults working full-time at minimum wage qualify for public assistance. A study by the University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center found Oregon taxpayers subsidize employers of low-wage workers by $1.7 billion a year. A national movement has called for a $15 an hour minimum wage. That's the level some cities have set, although those laws phase in the increases over the next three or more years. Backers of the $15 minimum had high hopes for this legislative session, when Democrats captured a bigger majority. But Senate President Peter Courtney declared early in the session that the minimum wage boost would not get a vote this year. Kotek's plan, announced this week, would raise Oregon's minimum to $11 in January, $12 in 2017 and $13 in 2018. The $13 level, she says, is enough to raise workers in most Oregon communities above the poverty level, while allowing high-cost cities such as Portland to go above that. A $13 wage three years from now is not outrageous. Still, raising the minimum will cost employers, and the burden will rest most heavily on the smallest businesses. Fast-food franchise owners with multiple locations likely can absorb an increase more readily than a mom-and-pop operation with three or four employees. Kotek says she recognizes her bill may not get a vote before the session is scheduled to end next month, but adds the issue should be on the table for discussion between now and next year's session. That would allow time to evaluate the effects of big minimum wage increases in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Minimum wage jobs were never intended to be careers, but in today's economy, too often workers are stuck in low-wage positions for long periods of time because higher-paying jobs are scarce. It's not unreasonable to expect workers to be able to cover minimal living expenses with the minimum wage. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Jun. 19, 2015 at 12:01 AM Updated Jun 19, 2015 at 8:50 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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