The King County Council is considering raising the minimum wage to $19 an hour for unincorporated King County.
The proposal has been introduced by County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay, who is planning a formal announcement later Thursday at an event in Skyway.
The proposed minimum wage would cover businesses in areas outside any city limits, so it wouldn’t include Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Renton or other cities, but it would cover areas such as Skyway, White Center, Vashon Island and Bear Creek.
Zahilay told Crosscut that the ordinance will go through a public workshopping process before the County Council will be asked to vote.
“Introducing an ordinance is a starting point, not a finishing point,” he said. “With the workers, with the small businesses, we will shape it to an optimal place,” he said.
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King County has already been a center for the push to raise the minimum wage.
Several cities in the county, including Seattle, already have a minimum wage higher than the state minimum wage of $15.74 an hour. The city of SeaTac has one of the highest in the country, $19.06 an hour. It was the first city in the nation to establish a $15-an-hour minimum wage after a 2013 voter initiative, which also called for annual adjustments. The Seattle City Council followed two years later, raising its minimum wage in 2015; it is currently $18.69 an hour.
Zahilay’s proposal comes after a successful voter...
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