Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Olympia City Council has opted to research the potential economic impacts of a minimum wage increase before considering a full Workers' Bill of Rights.
"The city council has decided not to bring forward a proposal to increase the minimum wage at this time," Olympia Mayor Dontae Payne told The JOLT in response to an inquiry.
He stated that this approach will allow the city council to gather data and seek more information to make informed policy decisions.
At their annual retreat in January, Payne said the city council discussed the importance of understanding the current economic landscape, particularly relating to wages and broader components of a potential Workers' Bill of Rights.
It directed the finance committee to outline the project requirements to conduct an economic assessment and engage the community throughout the process. The assessment will examine wages, employment trends and other economic conditions in Olympia.
On Tuesday, Feb. 18, the Finance Committee will discuss a scope of research on minimum wage, fair scheduling and workplace safety.
"I believe, everyone should be fairly compensated for their work and every working person deserves a living wage and safe and reasonable working conditions," Payne said.
He added the city council needs more information to understand the potential impacts before deciding to vote on the proposal. He stressed the council's responsibility to make informed decisions.
The Workers' Bill of Rights, which has been brought forward by community members, includes three key provisions: an increase in the minimum wage, predictive scheduling, and improvements to health and safety in the workplace.
Payne hoped the scope of work would provide the council and city staff with a clear, data-informed picture of local economic conditions. This will include gathering insights from residents, businesses, nonprofits and other stakeholders to better understand wages, employment trends, and other relevant factors.
"As a council, we try to understand the downstream effects of our decisions," Payne stated. "We need to ask: Who will be impacted? Will the effects be positive or negative? Are we the appropriate body to make this decision? Will the larger community be helped or harmed in the long run?"
The timeline for this research effort is expected to span most of the year. The city council expects to receive an update from staff at their mid-year retreat in June, which will provide more clarity on the next steps in this process.
"Once the assessment is finalized and the community engagement process concludes, the council will review the findings. At that point, the council may or may not choose to take further action based on the information obtained," the mayor concluded.
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JW
The City of Olympia, the city with a multi-million dollar budget crisis, is again wasting taxpayer money in the pursuit of "leadership's" pet political projects.
At this point I think we can safely say the city of Olympia council is a political farm team for the state legislature; come in and make your mark on the taxpayer's dime in order to get some leftist "street cred" and then move up to the big leagues. Who cares how much of the resident's money gets wasted in the meantime--you've left!
Monday, February 17, 2025 Report this
Honestyandrealityguy
I believe we have to look at better preparing our workforce to be more productive. MANY small businesses and restaurants are closing as they cannot make a profit with the existing minimum wage; thus, putting many out of work. It is time to focus on our school system and teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. It is time to teach our children how to be productive and work hard.
Letting them see how easy it can be to do nothing and get paid is not setting a good example. We need to find solutions and not just "talk" about the problems.
Monday, February 17, 2025 Report this
BobJacobs
I was one of the people who suggested raising the minimum wage. This was during discussions of housing affordability a couple of years ago; a minimum wage increase would potentially allow quite a few people to move out of the housing stressed category (over 30% of income for housing costs).
That was a one-dimensional suggestion. I'm pleased that the city council has decided to do a multi-dimensional analysis of the minimum wage increase option. This will allow the council to see all the impacts. For instance, there are many non-profit agencies who would be very hard hit by a higher minimum wage, and they provide crucial services to our community.
In addition, research has since been done on increased minimum wages in other cities, including Seattle. This information will help Olympia fully understand the ramifications of the idea.
Bob Jacobs
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Waste of time and energy. How about putting some effort into cleaning up the city. I don’t go downtown anymore because it’s a ghetto. Graffiti is everywhere. Streets are filthy. Homeless drug dealers and addicts begging for money. And our city council stands by watching and does nothing. Disgusting.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 Report this
Boatyarddog
The Only One comment that makes any sense or Help Anything is Bob Jacobs here. The rest are the usual Debbie Downers in Olympias White Priviledged Clics... Shame On Them!
Thursday, February 20, 2025 Report this