SB 1532, a bill to raise the minimum wage, passed the Oregon Senate on Feb. 11 by 16-12, and the Oregon House on Feb. 17 by 32-26. Once signed by the governor, it will raise Oregon’s minimum wage from its current $9.25 an hour to $13.50 over six years, with a lower wage for Oregon rural counties and a higher wage for the Portland area (within the Urban Growth Boundary).
The bill’s passage led the union-backed Raise the Wage coalition to announce Feb. 29 it will drop its $13.50 minimum wage ballot initiative and a related initiative to let local jurisdictions go higher.
The steering committee of a separate union-backed ballot initiative campaign for a $15-an-hour minimum is expected to determine whether to continue at its meeting tonight.
UPDATE 3/2/16: The steering committee for the coalition behind the $15 ballot measure met March 1 but didn’t reach a decision on whether to go forward. They’ll discuss it again at a meeting March 6.
