Portland won't enforce emergency minimum wage until 2022
Photo / Renee Cordes
Portland's mayor and city council have determined the city will not enforce an emergency minimum wage passed by the city's voters Nov. 3. It was one of five referendums that were put on the ballot after a signature drive by People First Portland designed to make the city more affordable and livable for lower-wage workers.
The city government of Portland will not immediately enforce an emergency minimum wage provision, part of an ordinance passed by voters Nov. 3.
The new law calls for time-and-a-half pay for workers during a declared state of emergency, and technically would mean an increase to a minimum of $18 an hour on Dec. 3, based on the current $12 minimum wage.
The City Council, though, at a Tuesday workshop and executive session with legal counsel, determined that the ordinance actually calls for the emergency law to begin when the new minimum wage increase kicks in — January 2022.
The city also reviewed a marijuana retail ordinance passed by voters, and determined it will continue to issue licenses for stores selling recreational marijuana.
The new ordinances can't be changed by the council for five years, but can be changed by another referendum within that time. Not imposing the minimum wage for another 14 months means that, conceivably, a citizens initiative could go on the 2021 ballot to change it.
Following the session, Mayor Kate Snyder said that she and the council had reviewed the minimum wage and marijuana ordinance amendments with Portland's attorneys. "We were advised on the legal implications and risks of various options for moving forward with each proposal," she said.
The City Council has advised city staff, based on the legal advice, "to enforce the minimum wage ordinance under its plain language which indicates that its terms shall take effect in January 2022 and to continue to award licenses under the marijuana ordinance."
"This means the ordinance provisions for Question A (minimum wage) are not effective until January 2022 and city staff will not be enforcing the ordinance until that time," Snyder said.
The minimum wage hike was passed by 60% of Portland voters. It increases the wage to $15 an hour by 2024, but also calls for an emergency minimum wage hike whenever the city, state or national government declares a state of emergency that required essential workers to still show up at their jobs.
People First Portland, which collected signatures to get five of six referendums on the ballot, called passage of the higher minimum wage, as well as rent control and development restrictions aimed at increasing affordable housing, "a victory for the working people who make up the core of our community." The ballot questions were spurred by the city's housing crisis, rising rents and the inability of many who work in the city to find an affordable place to live.
City government leaders and businesses opposed the minimum wage, as well as the other measures, saying they would hurt the city's economy more than help it.
The marijuana ordinance passed last week eliminates a 20-store cap on stores that can marijuana in the city, as well as restrictions on how close they can be to each other.
The council last month suspended the 20-store cap, allowing all 36 applicants to continue in the pipeline towards getting a license to operate in the city. The city also had a 250-foot buffer between stores and the ordinance decreases it to 100 feet. Those who get licenses from the city still have to get permits from the state, find a location, and more.
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The decision to allow the lunacy of $18 minimum wage will be the death of retail in Portland and any rational mind already understands this.
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