1355 AMH MANW TANG 049

HB 1355 - H AMD 97

By Representative Manweller

SCOPE AND OBJECT 03/03/2015

    On page 2, beginning on line 18, after "(b)" strike all material through "30th" on line 19 and insert "((On September 30, 2000, and on each following September 30th)) Subject to section 2 of this act"

    On page 2, beginning on line 25, after "for the" strike all material through "labor" on line 26 and insert "((twelve months prior to each September 1st as calculated by the United States department of labor)) average rate of inflation for the previous number of years since the last adjustment, as provided under section 2 of this act" 

    On page 2, after line 30, insert the following:

    "NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  This section is the minimum wage performance statement for the minimum wage increase created in section 1 of this act.  This performance statement is only intended to be used for subsequent evaluation of the minimum wage increase.  It is not intended to create a private right of action by any party or be used to determine eligibility for any wage and hour benefits.

    (1) It is the legislature’s specific public policy objective to increase minimum wages for the purposes of reducing or maintaining the number of Washingtonians at or below the federal poverty level as measured by the United States census bureau.

    (2) As of 2012, according to data from the United States census bureau, thirteen and a half percent of Washingtonians were at or below poverty, ranking Washington as nineteenth in the nation with the lowest poverty level. 

    (3)(a) Beginning September 2020, the joint legislative audit and review committee shall conduct a review on whether the percentage of Washingtonians at or below the federal poverty level has increased or decreased from the effective date of this section.  If the review finds that the percentage of Washingtonians at or below the federal poverty level has increased, then the department may not adjust the minimum wage rate for inflation, as provided for under section 1 of this act, unless the increase is due to some factor other than the minimum wage increase in section 1 of this act.  The minimum wage rate shall not be adjusted until a review conducted by the joint legislative audit and review committee finds that the percentage of Washingtonians at or below the federal poverty level has not increased.

    (b) Beginning September 2025, and every five years thereafter, the joint legislative audit and review committee shall conduct a review on whether the percentage of Washingtonians at or below the federal poverty level has increased or decreased from the previous review conducted by the joint legislative audit and review committee.  The minimum wage rate may be adjusted for inflation as provided for under section 1 of this act only if the joint legislative audit and review committee finds in its review that the percentage of Washingtonians at or below the federal poverty level has not increased from the last review, or if the percentage has increased, the increase is due to some factor other than the minimum wage increase in section 1 of this act.  If the minimum wage rate is adjusted, it must be adjusted by the average rate of inflation for the previous number of years since the last time the minimum wage rate was adjusted for inflation. 

    (4) In order to obtain the data necessary to perform the review in subsection 3 of this section, the joint legislative audit and review committee shall refer to the most current information available from the United States census bureau."

    Renumber the remaining section consecutively and correct the title.

EFFECT:  Adds a performance statement that:

· sets forth the Legislature's public policy objective of reducing or maintaining the number of Washingtonians at or below the federal poverty level; 

· requires the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC), in 2020, and every five years after, to review whether the percentage of Washingtonians at or below the poverty level has increased or decreased; and

· provides that the minimum wage rate may only be adjusted for inflation when a JLARC review finds that the percentage of Washingtonians at or below the federal poverty level has not increased from the last review, or if there has been an increase, the increase is due to some other factor than the minimum wage. 

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