Local News

Minimum wage is an important discussion, but it should happen at the state level, said Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia. He’s sponsoring Senate Bill 6307, which would prohibit cities and counties from enacting laws to regulate minimum wage, hours and other private employee considerations. The bill would not set a minimum wage but would reserve that action for the…

House Democrats introduced a bill Thursday that would boost the state’s minimum wage nearly 30 percent, to $12 an hour, by 2017. Under the proposal, the state’s current $9.32 cent-an-hour minimum wage would increase to $10 an hour starting Jan. 1, 2015, and would get another $1 an hour bump at the beginning of…