Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregonian’s receiving a minimum wage will make $8.40 an hour in the New Year. It’s a forty-five cent raise for the lowest paid people in the state. KLCC’S Rachael McDonald reports.

The adjustment reflects the rise in the cost of living and was required by a voter-passed measure in 2002.

Mike Leachman is with the Oregon Center for Public Policy.

Michael Leachman: “We also see it as an economic stimulus that families who depend on a minimum wage job will see this wage boost. That money is going to be spent right here in Oregon overwhelmingly. And that will be a boost both to those families and the communities in which they live.”

The Oregon Restaurant Association recently announced it would push the 2009 legislature to remove the annual adjustment of the minimum wage.

An Oregon full-time minimum wage worker will earn $17,472 next year. That's below the federal poverty line for a family of three.