READ FIRST TIME 03/02/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to studying the minimum wage in Washington state; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that Initiative 688, passed by the people in 1998, provides for a minimum wage and automatic increases in the minimum wage based on increases in the consumer price index. Increases in the minimum wage have occurred annually since adoption of the initiative.
     The legislature further finds that the level of Washington's minimum wage and the increases provided by the initiative are subjects of debate and controversy. Employers and employees dispute the positive and negative effects of the minimum wage, the role that the minimum wage plays in the creation or loss of jobs, and the effect of the minimum wage on Washington's economy.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   The Washington state institute of public policy, in consultation with the employment security department, shall conduct a study to address the issues impacted by the minimum wage and its annual increases in Washington state. The study should address:
     (1) The impact of the minimum wage on job creation and job loss, from 1990 to the present;
     (2) The role of the minimum wage in maintaining the purchasing power of low-income workers, as well as its effect on the federal poverty level rates of low-income workers in this state, in comparison to other workers;
     (3) Wage compression resulting from increases in the minimum wage;
     (4) Demographic analysis of persons earning eight dollars and thirty-five cents per hour or less, including race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, age, and the average amount of time persons earn the minimum wage, as well as the rate of taxpayer provided services used by these persons;
     (5) The extent to which the minimum wage is paid in various industries and occupations in Washington, including the number of total jobs available in those industries over the past seven years and an analysis of any causal relation between increases in the minimum wage and fluctuations in those job numbers;
     (6) Differences in economic activity attributed to the minimum wage increases in comparison with similar activity in Oregon, Idaho, and other states similar in economic size and industrial base to Washington;
     (7) Economic activity and wage progression in industries with large numbers of low-wage workers compared to wages paid in manufacturing, high tech, and other moderate and high-income fields in Washington;
     (8) The impact of the minimum wage on state unemployment, including a comparison of state and federal unemployment rates from 1970 to the present, as well as the effect the increasing minimum wage has on the mechanization and elimination of jobs in the state;
     (9) A summary of the actions taken by other states regarding their minimum wage laws over the last five years; and
     (10) The impact on workers and businesses of a minimum tipped wage.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The Washington state institute for public policy shall collect information for the study from both the public and private sector. The Washington state institute of public policy must report its findings to the legislature by December 1, 2006.