BILL REQ. #:  H-0307.1 

Read first time 02/10/2003.   Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

     AN ACT Relating to the minimum hourly wage; amending RCW 49.46.020; and declaring an emergency.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 49.46.020 and 1999 c 1 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Until January 1, ((1999)) 2004, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than ((four dollars and ninety cents)) seven dollars and one cent per hour.
     (2) ((Beginning January 1, 1999, and until January 1, 2000, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than five dollars and seventy cents per hour.
     (3) Beginning January 1, 2000, and until January 1, 2001, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than six dollars and fifty cents per hour.
     (4)(a))) Beginning on January 1, ((2001, and each following January 1st as set forth under (b) of this subsection)) 2004, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years and who does not work primarily in a rural county as defined in RCW 43.160.020 wages at a rate of not less than the ((amount established under (b) of this subsection.
     (b) On September 30, 2000, and on each following September 30th, the department of labor and industries shall calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate to maintain employee purchasing power by increasing the current year's minimum wage rate by the rate of inflation. The adjusted minimum wage rate shall be calculated to the nearest cent using the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, CPI-W, or a successor index, for the twelve months prior to each September 1st as calculated by the United States department of labor. Each adjusted minimum wage rate calculated under this subsection (4)(b) takes effect on the following January 1st)) urban adjusted minimum wage rate calculated as set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
     (3) Beginning on January 1, 2004, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years and who works primarily in a rural county as defined in RCW 43.160.020 wages at a rate of not less than the rural adjusted minimum wage rate calculated as set forth in subsection (4) of this section.
     (4) On September 30th of each year, the department of labor and industries shall calculate to the nearest cent urban and rural adjusted minimum wage rates using the consumer price indices specified in this subsection for the twelve months prior to each September 1st as calculated by the United States department of labor. For the urban adjusted minimum wage rate, the department shall use the national consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, CPI-W, in United States cities or a successor index. For the rural adjusted minimum wage rate, the department shall use the national consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, CPI-W, in class D areas or a successor index. The adjusted minimum wage rates calculated under this subsection take effect on January 1st of the following year.
     (5) The director shall by regulation establish the minimum wage for employees under the age of eighteen years.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.