About the Prop 1 Initiative

As you probably know, the 15/Now Tacoma coalition wrote an initiative to the voters, slated for the November 2015 ballot. Proposition 1 will raise the minimum wage in Tacoma to $15/hour, with annual cost-of-living adjustments. Each initiative has a rather lengthy and descriptive official “title,” which also provides a brief explanation. You can see the title below as it will appear on the ballot

TITLE (as it appears on the ballot)

Initiative No. 1 concerns establishing a minimum wage for the City of Tacoma. This measure would require employers of a certain size to pay employees who work in the City of Tacoma, or maintain, report to, or are supervised from, an office in the City, an hourly wage of not less than fifteen dollars ($15.00), adjusted annually by the rate of inflation. This measure would also create a citizen commission to monitor the City’s administration and enforcement of the minimum wage requirements, and make violation a crime.”

There is also an official summary which is in the voter’s handbook. The city attorney writes that summary and attempts to make this summary objective, understandable, and concise. Below is this summary as it will appear in the voters’ pamphlet:

SUMMARY (as it appears on the initiative petition)

This measure proposes an ordinance to establish a minimum wage in the City of Tacoma of fifteen dollars per hour, to be adjusted for inflation annually. The ordinance exempts those businesses that the City Tax Code defines as small businesses (currently, those with a gross income of less than $300,000) from Tacoma’s minimum wage law. The ordinance authorizes the city to investigate complaints and enforce compliance. The law establishes a Citizen’s Minimum Wage Commission, which reviews the City’s enforcement performance annually and verifies the adequacy of the Minimum Wage every 5 years. The City may restrict repeat violators from city contracts, land use appraisals, entitlements to expand, or to operate within the city based on a history of noncompliance”

If you would like to download the text of the actual proposed law, with all its legalese, please click here.