Federal Minimum Wage Would Reduce Oregon's

People earning minimum wage in Oregon would see their paychecks shrink if the House-passed minimum wage bill becomes law, according to a memo issued today by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office:

The memos — a financial analysis of the bill by CBO that was released publicly, and a legal analysis of the minimum wage language by CRS that was sent to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. — both conclude that the measure would preempt state minimum wage laws as they apply to tip-earning workers in seven states: Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Minnesota and Nevada, plus the territory of Guam.

David Sarasohn expanded on this in an Oregonian editorial today.

In an additional bit of cleverness, the House bill overrides state minimum wage laws that don't count tips against the minimum wage -- the policy of Oregon, Washington, California, Alaska, Nevada and two other states. The Oregon minimum wage is now $7.50 plus tips, the Washington minimum is now $7.63 plus tips, both according to the will of state voters. The clever new House plan could drop them both as low as the federal level of $2.13, with tips expected to get them the rest of the way.

The House bill is linked with a massive cut to the estate tax, which are assessed only on the fortunes of the richest Americans.  The Senate is considering the bill this week.

Aug. 02, 2006 Posted in in the news 2006.