Monday night 4/13 6pm to 9pm in Salem at the State Capitol, there will be a public hearing on ten bills regarding the minimum wage in Oregon. The bills make varying changes: raising to $10.75/hr by 2015;  raising to $15/hr by 2018; and to allow local govts to set the minimum wage.  If you own a small business, how will these bills affect it?  How will this minimum wage attract small businesses to Oregon or attract skilled workers to Oregon. Testimony is needed.

See:  HB2004, HB2008, HB2009, HB2012, SB130, SB327, SB332, SB597, SB610, SB682.  For the Senate bills, email testimony to all members of the committee via the committee administrator [email protected], and for the House bills emails testimony to all members of the committee via the committee administrator [email protected] indicating that is testimony for all members of the committee for the bill (name it). 

Portland and Multnomah County have had a lot of discussion and actions about minimum wage.   Tim Nesbitt, a former president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, writing in the Oregonian put forth the idea that the working poor would not have a large change in their situation but rather would find a shift of their needs being met by the employer instead of the govt because they would qualify for fewer food stamps and smaller tax credits.  

There is a push on the left for this.  MoveOn.org is promoting a “Fight For $15” rally 12 noon in O’Bryant Square (SW Park and Washington St Portland) on Wednesday, April 15th.