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No Change To Oregon's Minimum Wage In 2016

A measure that would increase the mimimum wage in Oregon to $15 per hour could appear on the ballot in 2016.
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries
A measure that would increase the mimimum wage in Oregon to $15 per hour could appear on the ballot in 2016.

Minimum wage workers in Oregon won't see a pay raise next year. State Labor Commissioner Brad Avakian announced Wednesday that Oregon's minimum wage will hold steady for the first time since 2010.

Oregon's minimum wage is tied to inflation. Specifically, it's tied to the federal Consumer Price Index. This year that index rose, but only a little bit. It would have translated to a 2-cents per hour increase.

But a spokesman for Avakian pointed to a 2002 voter-approved ballot measure that called for any minimum wage hike to be rounded to the nearest nickel. In this case, it means the hike gets rounded down to zero, and the wage remains $9.25 per hour.

Avakian is calling on Oregon lawmakers to raise the minimum wage when they meet next February. Voters could also get the chance to weigh in at the ballot next year.

Officials in Washington state will announce any possible minimum wage increases on September 30. That wage is also tied to inflation and is the highest in the nation at $9.47 per hour.

The Idaho minimum wage is the same as the federal one. It’s been $7.25 an hour since 2009.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.