EVERETT — An initiative is circulating to raise Everett’s minimum wage to $20.24 an hour, and organizers think they can get it on November’s ballot.
The group hopes to get the under-1,000 signatures needed by the end of this month, campaign spokesman Skylar Clary said last week.
Their deadline is mid-July to see the initiative proceed to voters. The campaign’s known as “Everett Deserves A Raise.”
Earlier this month, City Councilwoman Mary Fosse began a separate effort to create a minimum wage ballot measure at the City Council level.
Clary said Fosse’s effort is a good “backup,” going through council risks the rule being diluted or subverted. The council could neuter it, and the mayor could veto a council-created measure.
If approved, it would make the local minimum wage $20.24 for people working for large companies in January. People in smaller companies would see a wage increase rise at a slower pace.
In July 2025, Everett’s minimum wage baseline would rise based on inflation under the measure.
Companies would be limited in hiring more employees. They’d be mandated to increase the hours of their existing employees first before hiring more people or hiring subcontractors and freelancers if the existing employees can do the additional work.
The initiative’s sponsors say this restriction is legal.
The state’s minimum wage is $16.28 an hour.
The wage, compared to the cost of living, is disincentivizing Everett residents from finding jobs in Everett, Clary said. Instead, they’re commuting to King County for higher pay, he said.
The Everett effort based the wage at $20.24 relative to the amounts in other areas, Clary said.
Voters in Renton and Tukwila both approved local minimum wage laws. Unincorporated King County, too, set a minimum wage; theirs is $20.29 an hour.
The 12 members behind the citizen’s initiative are from many different walks of life.
The 38th Legislative Democrats have endorsed the measure, Clary said. They predict local unions also will sign on.
Clary said a minimum wage increase will benefit the economy.
People earning the baseline will have more money to spend, and will spend it locally, he said.
The initiative considers small businesses under 15 employees by gradually raising it, he said.
He countered that a wage increase will not directly affect the cost of goods in an interview. Prices of goods have been going up either which way regardless of wages, as prices of items are set by national corporations without consideration for what the local wage rate is, he said.
In contrast, he said, the largest cost of living is the cost of housing.
Organizers spent last weekend spreading the petition.
They seek just under 1,000 signatures. The signature threshold is based on a percentage of how many Everett residents voted in the 2023 general election, and that was an off-year for voter turnout, Clary said.
