Washington State's Failed Minimum Wage Experiment
In a move intended to escalate the 2016 war over income inequality, Sen. Patty Murray proposed legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $12 an hour.
As a representative of Washington state, Sen. Murray should know a thing or two about the minimum wage. Since the 1990s, the state has led the nation in raising the minimum wage, both locally and statewide. President Obama’s Labor Secretary, Tom Perez, recentlypraised Washington for having “the highest minimum wage in the country for the last 15 years.”
Unfortunately, Sen. Murray seems to have learned all the wrong lessons. Rather than serving as a model for the nation, Washington’s experience with the minimum wage should serve as a warning.
In a speech last year supporting a $10.10 federal minimum wage, Murray claimed Washington state’s economy “has benefited from a high minimum wage,” pointing out that job growth has exceeded the national average while poverty has “trailed the national level.”
None of these claims withstand scrutiny.
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