Group in Idaho Wants to Raise Minimum Wage

Raising minimum wage is a highly debated topic and it seems like we're going to be talking a lot more about it soon. Our friends at KTVB let us know there is a group in Idaho that is hoping to raise the minimum wage in our state through an initiative.

The minimum wage in Idaho currently sits at $7.25 an hour. Our minimum wage hasn't increased in a decade, although 26 other states have increased theirs.

Idaho is a low-wage state, meaning the average weekly wage in 2018 is lower than all but two other states. As we continue to see here in the Treasure Valley home prices are drastically increasing making affordable housing even more difficult.

The group making the push is Idahoans for a Fair Wage and they are pushing to get signatures for an initiative to be put on the ballot. Their hopes are to increase the minimum wage to $8.75, then adding another dollar per year until we hit $12 per hour. At that point the increase would be tied to the consumer price index.

It will be interesting to see how this problem is handled moving forward.