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A MOTION addressing income inequality with the establishment and implementation of a living wage policy for King County.
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WHEREAS, King County's policies are designed to foster and promote a healthy economic environment for individual county residents and their families, including jobs and wages that are sufficient to support a family, and
WHEREAS, one of the stated objectives toward achieving the goal of Economic Growth and Built Environment under the King County Strategic Plan is to "support a strong, diverse, and sustainable economy," and
WHEREAS, one of the stated indicators of whether that objective has been attained is the "percent of jobs paying a living wage," and
WHEREAS, according to The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington State 2011, a report prepared for the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County, the Washington state minimum wage is insufficient to meet the basic needs of working families. Specifically, the current minimum wage for Washington state, which is $9.32 per hour as of April 2014, is less than the 2011 "self-sufficiency standard" by between twelve percent and seventy-three percent, depending on the number of adults and children in the family and the family's specific location within King County, and
WHEREAS, employees who are paid less than a living wage are more likely to be eligible for and rely upon government programs for assistance, including programs such as subsidized food, housing, health care, bus fare and utilities, resulting in an indirect and unwarranted taxpayer subsidy to their employers, and
WHEREAS, according to a December 2013 report by the Alliance for a Just Society, a national network of twelve racial and economic justice organizations:
1. The Washington state minimum wage, which is $9.32 per hour as of January 2014, is:
a. forty-two percent less than a living wage for a single adult; the report defines living wage as a wage that allows families to meet their basic nee...

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