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Question: What effect, marginal though it would be, will higher
wages in Seattle have on Washington State University, and, we dare
ask, University of Idaho, admission applications?<br>
<br>
Here is the news story raising the question:<br>
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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/02/seattle-council-passes-15-minimum-wage/">http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/02/seattle-council-passes-15-minimum-wage/</a>
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<p><span class="dateline">SEATTLE – </span><span style=" color:
#000000;">The Seattle City Council unanimously passed an
ordinance Monday that gradually increases the</span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">minimum wage</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">in the city to $15, which would make it the highest
in the nation.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">The issue has dominated
politics in the liberal municipality for months, and a
boisterous crowd of mostly labor activists packed the Council
chambers for the vote. Mayor Ed Murray, who was elected last
year, had promised in his campaign to raise the</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">minimum wage</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">to $15 an hour. A newly-elected socialist City
Council member had pushed the idea as well.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">"We did it. Workers did
this," said Kshama Sawant, the socialist City Council member
"We need to continue to build an even more powerful movement."</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">Council member Tom Rasmussen
said "Seattle wants to stop the race to the bottom in</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">wages" and address the "widening gap between the
rich and the poor."</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">The measure, which would
take effect on April 1, 2015, includes a phase-in of the</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">wage</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">increase over several years, with a slower process
for small businesses. The plan gives businesses with more than
500 employees nationally at least three years to phase in the
increase. Those providing health insurance will have four
years to complete the move. Smaller organizations will be
given seven years.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">The International Franchise
Association, a Washington, D.C.-based business group that
represents franchise owners, said it plans to sue to stop the
ordinance.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">"The City Council's action
today is unfair, discriminatory and a deliberate attempt to
achieve a political agenda at the expense of small franchise
business owners," the group said in a statement.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">The ordinance came from
recommendations made by an advisory group of labor, business
and nonprofit representatives convened by Murray. After more
than four months of discussion, the group presented its plan
last month. Last week the Council delayed implementation by a
few months and approved a sub-minimum wage</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">for teenagers, a provision opposed by labor
representatives.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">Although some local
businesses have come out in support of the measure, a group of
restaurant owners oppose it, saying it would force them to
scuttle expansion plans, decrease hiring and possibly cut
service hours.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">Nick Musser, executive chef
and general manager of the Icon Grill in downtown Seattle,
doesn't think the wage</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">credit for tips should phase out after seven years
and finds the differentiation between large and big companies
irrelevant.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">"The reality is that the
larger companies are going to ratchet up their</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">wages</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">and we're going to have to play at that level
anyway," said Musser, whose restaurant employs between 50 and
60 people, depending on the time of year. Most of them are
paid</span></span><span class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span
style=" color: #000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span
style=" color: #000000;">minimum wage.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">Ubah Aden, 40, a Seattle
home health worker who says she now earns $10.95 an hour, is
looking forward to the way a higher</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">wage</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">will help her support her three children. But she
also likes the idea of Seattle setting an example for the rest
of the nation.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">"If this passes, then it
will pave the way for other cities and states. I really think
so" Aden said.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">She said she and her three
kids are living with her brother because she can't afford an
apartment of her own even though she works full time. "This
will make changes to myself and also a lot of other people in
my shoes."</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">San Francisco currently has
the nation's highest hourly</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">minimum wage</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">at $10.74.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">The current</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">minimum wage</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">in Washington state is $9.32 an hour.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span style=" color: #000000;">Earlier this year Minnesota
raised the state's guaranteed</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">wage</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">by more than $3, to $9.50, by 2016. California,
Connecticut and Maryland also have passed laws increasing
their respective</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">wages</span></span><span
class="Apple-converted-space"><span><span style=" color:
#000000;"> </span></span></span><span><span style=" color:
#000000;">to $10 or more in coming years.</span></span></p>
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