Central Oregonians react to minimum wage proposal

The fire under the debate over raising the minimum wage was rekindled Thursday as Gov. Kate Brown unveiled a new plan to proposal to raise the wages for Oregon’s poorest workers.

But when it comes to reaction, it’s the same old debate.

“It would be nice really to bump up the wages,” said Central Oregon Community College student Callie Covington.

But student Breanna Wells said, “The price of everything is going to go up.”

Brown called for a two-tier wage boosting plan that would start in 2017 and slowly increase minimum wages over six years.

Portland-area workers would earn more — minimum wages would start at $11.79 an hour, rising to $15.52 by 2022.

Other areas of the state, including the High Desert, would get 15 percent less. Workers could expect a minimum wage of $10.25 an hour to start, moving up to $13.50.

“I’d really like it to increase, just because I’m a student and the cost of living is kind of expensive, especially being on my own,” Covington said.

NewsChannel 21 spoke with several minimum-wage earners eager to make more money, but a couple of college students said they fear a pay raise, would only mean a cut in the end.

“I would have to sell more stuff to earn my own pay,” said Bradley Sellers, adding that he earns minimum wage. “They’re probably going to have to lay off people.”

Pine Tavern General Manager Michael Poe said he doesn’t necessarily think he’d have to resort to that — he told KTVZ he could support a small wage increase — but what about $13.50 per hour?

“I did the math — it’s a 46 percent increase — you take that across the board and a $10 hamburger goes up to $14.60,” Poe said.

Brown’s announcement came as several groups consider ballot measures pitching increases to minimum wage.

One of the loudest voices: Raise the Wage Coalition, called Brown’s proposal a step in the right direction, but the group isn’t on board yet. Some groups are calling for a minimum wage of $15 an hour across the state.

Meanwhile, the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association released a statement Thursday saying in part it’s “very concerned over the significant likelihood of job losses and economic instability for small businesses throughout the state.”

To read more of what the governor and others had to say, visit the story linked to in the sidebar to this article. And you can weigh in on our KTVZ.COM Poll on the proposal, halfway down the right side of our home page.