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D.C. Pushing for 2016 Vote on $15 Minimum Wage

A historic measure to raise the District’s hourly minimum wage to $15 is headed toward next year’s ballot after city officials released a ruling Wednesday approving a voter initiative that places the nation’s capital at the center of a wage fight taking place in cities across the country.

A historic measure to raise the District’s hourly minimum wage to $15 is headed toward next year’s ballot after city officials released a ruling Wednesday approving a voter initiative that places the nation’s capital at the center of a wage fight taking place in cities across the country.

If approved, the initiative would lift Washington’s minimum wage above every other city’s on the East Coast. It would push the District into a burgeoning, urban liberal vanguard on higher wages that includes Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The ballot measure will go to voters in November 2016 only if supporters collect enough signatures, but even opponents say that is likely. It is one of several efforts moving ahead across the nation; also Wednesday, a state panel in New York approved raising the hourly rate to $15 for fast-food workers.

 

 

Caroline Cournoyer is GOVERNING's senior web editor.
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