Wage activists filed a ballot measure in Salem Tuesday that would increase Oregon’s hourly minimum wage to $15 per hour beginning 2017.
If they can deliver more than 80,000 signatures by next summer, it will appear on the ballot in November 2016.
Kristi Wright with 15 Now Oregon helped file the measure in Salem Tuesday morning. She said they’re turning to the ballot box after they tried to get the legislature to raise wages.
“We did work with the legislature, we did submit a bill, and ultimately Democrats chose not to act, they chose to kill the bill,” Wright said. “And so, it wasn’t our first choice, but we are prepared to go to the ballot.”
House Speaker Tina Kotek introduced a proposal in June to raise the Oregon minimum wage to $13 per hour, but on Monday, she said that plan is unlikely to pass with little time left in the session.
Oregon’s current minimum wage is $9.25 per hour.