Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023
A split council this week decided not to join Boulder County in pursuing a $15 per hour minimum wage by January 1. Boulder will instead continue on a plan to raise wages starting in 2025, in cooperation with Longmont, Louisville, Lafayette and Erie.
The city and county have been talking about establishing a higher local minimum wage since 2020, the first year municipalities were allowed to pursue higher wages under state law. Denver was the first region to take advantage of the new law, setting a $12.85 hourly minimum in 2020.
Like the state minimum wage, the rate increases each year, a model that Boulder hopes to emulate. This year, Colorado’s minimum wage is $13.65; Denver’s is $17.29.
Locally, minimum wage efforts were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discussions did not resume until April 2022, and other municipalities did not fully come on board until recently, according to council assistant Taylor Reiman and Councilwoman Lauren Folkerts, who are both part of the collaborative working group.
A regional approach is preferred by other towns because of the shared costs and workload in preparing legislation. Collaboration is also encouraged by the state legislation, which limits the number of municipalities that can mandate higher wages.
The working group coalesced around a plan to raise minimum wage beginning in 2025, Folkerts said. City council affirmed the work, and the timeline, at a May 25 study session.
Then, in July, Boulder County...
Pakistan on April 22, Thursday urged the United Nations to call upon India to restore full implementation of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), warning that New Delhi’s “illegal” decision to hold the ...