A Charter Amendment to Raise the Minimum Wage in the City of Seattle to $12.50/hour

Please return your petition forms or contact us at Forward Seattle,

Address: 4742 42nd Ave SW Box 395 Seattle 98116

Email: Admin@forwardseattle.org

Phone: 206.673.5669

Website: www.forwardseattle.org

WARNING: Every person who signs this petition with any other than his or her true name, or who knowingly signs more than one of these petitions, or signs a petition seeking an election when he or she is not a legal voter, or signs a petition when he or she is otherwise not qualified to sign, or who makes herein any false statement, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. (RCW 35.21.005).

WARNING: Ordinance 94289 provides as follows: Section 1. It is unlawful for any person: 1. To sign or decline to sign a petition for any City initiative, referendum or Charter amendment, in exchange for any consideration or gratuity or promise thereof; or 2. To give or offer any consideration or gratuity to anyone to induce him or her to sign or not to sign a petition for a City initiative, referendum, or Charter amendment; or 3. To interfere with or attempt to interfere with the right of any voter to sign or not to sign a petition for a City initiative, referendum, or Charter amendment by threat, intimidation or any other corrupt means or practice; or 4. To sign a petition for a City initiative, referendum or Charter amendment with any other than his or her true name, or to knowingly sign more than one (1) petition for the same initiative, referendum or Charter amendment measure, or to sign any such petition knowing that he or she is not a registered voter of The City of Seattle. Section 2. Any person violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall upon conviction thereof be punishable by a fine of not more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500) or by imprisonment in the City Jail for a period not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

Charter Amendment Petition for Submission to the Seattle City Council Raising the Minimum Wage to $12.50/hour

To the City Clerk and Council of the City of Seattle: We, the undersigned registered voters of the City of Seattle, propose the amendment to the City of Seattle Charter known as Charter Amendment Measure No. ___ entitled:

[here set forth the established ballot title of the measure]

a full, true and correct copy of which is included herein, and we petition the Clerk and Council to present said proposed Charter Amendment to the qualified electors of the City of Seattle for approval or rejection at the next general municipal election occurring in accordance with Article XX, Section 2 of the City Charter, and each of us for himself or herself says: I have personally signed this petition; I am a registered voter of the City of Seattle, State of Washington, and my residence is correctly stated:

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Charter Amendment Raising the Minimum Wage to $12.50/hour

A new article to the City of Seattle Charter shall be added as follows:

Section 1. Preamble and Intent

A. The People of the City of Seattle, exercising their power to amend the City Charter by popular vote under Article XX, Section 2 of the City Charter, enact the following amendment to the Charter of the City of Seattle relating to employment in Seattle and establishing a minimum wage for employees performing work in Seattle.

B. The Citizens of Seattle propose a straight-forward, no exceptions approach toward increasing the minimum wage in Seattle by January 1, 2015 that is sensible, measurable, and most importantly, defensible in its purpose, application and impact.

C. Minimum-wage studies performed along with other appropriate and relevant data surrounding the impact of minimum wage increases in other cities show no significant detrimental evidence following a gradual increase in the minimum wage to $12.50 per labor hour worked: however, there is no data supporting any increase beyond this rate.

D. Seattle continues to have the highest effective minimum wage for tipped and non-tipped employees of any major metropolitan area in the United States. We are setting the precedent, both in policy and resulting impact, for the rest of the country.

Section 2. Definitions

For the purposes of this Article, "employee," "employer" and "wage" means the same as defined in Section 12A.28.200 of the current Seattle Municipal Code.

Section 3. Employment in Seattle

Employees are covered by this Article for each hour worked within the geographic boundaries of Seattle. An employee who performs work in Seattle on an occasional basis is covered by this Article only if the employee performs more than two hours of work for an employer within Seattle during that two-week period. Time spent in Seattle solely for the purpose of travelling through Seattle from a point of origin outside Seattle to a destination outside Seattle, with no employment-related or commercial stops in Seattle except for refueling or the employee's meals or personal errands, is not covered by this Article.

Section 4. Hourly Minimum Wage

Effective January 1, 2015, employers shall pay each employee an hourly minimum wage of at least $10.10 and the minimum wage shall increase based on the following schedule:

July 1, 2015 $10.50

July 1, 2016 $10.90

July 1, 2017 $11.30

July 1, 2018 $11.70

July 1, 2019 $12.10

July 1, 2020 $12.50

Beginning July 1, 2021, the minimum wage of $12.50 per hour will be adjusted. Adjustments to the minimum wage shall be based solely on, and calculated to the nearest cent, the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, CPI-W, or a successor index, for the twelve months prior to each September 1st as calculated by the United States department of labor. Each adjusted minimum wage rate calculated under this subsection takes effect on the July 1 ^st of each year.

Section 5. Enforcement

The City Council shall provide for the enforcement of the provisions of this Article.

Section 6. Severability

The provisions of this Article are declared to be separate and severable. If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, subsection or portion of this Article, or the application thereof to any employer, employee, or circumstance, is held to be invalid, it shall not affect the validity of the remainder of this Article, or the validity of its application to other persons or circumstances.

Section 7. Other Legal Requirements

This Article shall not be construed to preempt, limit, or otherwise affect the applicability of any other state or federal law, regulation, requirement, policy, or standard that provides for greater wages or compensation. Nothing in this Article shall be interpreted or applied so as to create any power or duty in conflict with federal or state law. Any City ordinances that provide any minimum wage requirements that differ from this Article shall be considered void.