Washington State Labor Law Taken to Court

Kittitas County, WAThe Washington State Farm Bureau and a group of local businesses have filed a lawsuit in Kittitas County, Washington, challenging a Washington labor law that would increase minimum wage by 12 cents next year, the Bellingham Herald reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">State Attorney General Rob McKenna's staff is reportedly planning to bring in outside counsel in order to defend the Department of Labor and Industries, which was responsible for setting the higher rate, the news source said. The state minimum wage is scheduled to reach $8.67 an hour next year.

"This is just a case where there are two really good legal arguments running up against each other," said Elaine Fischer, spokeswoman for the Department of Labor and Industries. "We went with one that we felt was best, and now it will be for the court to decide."

The case centers around whether or not Initiative 688 requires an increase to the state minimum wage, which the Farm Bureau argues is already the highest in the country, according to the news provider. In 1998, voters approved I-688 in order to keep minimum wage increases consistent with Consumer Price Index increases, the news source said.