SB 46: "An Act relating to increasing the minimum hourly wage under the Alaska Wage and Hour Act; and providing for an effective date."
00 SENATE BILL NO. 46 01 "An Act relating to increasing the minimum hourly wage under the Alaska Wage and 02 Hour Act; and providing for an effective date." 03 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 FINDINGS. (a) The legislature finds that 07 (1) the current state minimum hourly wage is set by statute and does not 08 ensure that the lowest-paid workers in Alaska do not live in poverty; 09 (2) a single parent with two children working full time at the current state 10 minimum hourly wage will earn 66 percent of the 2000 poverty level for a family of three in 11 Alaska; 12 (3) a two-parent family of four in which both parents work or one parent 13 works two jobs for a total of 60 hours per week at the current state minimum hourly wage will 14 earn 83 percent of the poverty level for a family of four in Alaska in 2000;
01 (4) since 1959, state law has provided that the state minimum hourly wage is 02 50 cents per hour higher than the federal minimum hourly wage; that differential in the state 03 minimum wage to the federal minimum wage has declined from 50 percent to less than 10 04 percent; 05 (5) because the state minimum hourly wage is tied to the federal minimum 06 wage law, the state minimum hourly wage has gone as long as nine years, from 1981 to 1990, 07 without an increase; the state minimum hourly wage will continue to lose ground against 08 inflation in Alaska as long as it is linked to the infrequently adjusted federal minimum wage; 09 and 10 (6) Alaska has a lower minimum hourly wage than do California, Oregon, and 11 Washington; those three states historically account for approximately 30 percent of in- 12 migration of employees to Alaska. 13 (b) The legislature further finds that it is in the public interest that the state minimum 14 hourly wage 15 (1) is increased to a level that provides workers employed at the state 16 minimum hourly wage with a reasonable chance of working their way out of poverty; 17 (2) remains competitive with the minimum hourly wage set in other West 18 Coast states; and 19 (3) is annually increased for inflation to protect the purchasing power of low- 20 wage workers, in order to enable them to remain self-sufficient; predictable and incremental 21 adjustments would eliminate the necessity for further legislation that sometimes results in 22 large single-year increases in the state minimum hourly wage that may be difficult for Alaska 23 employers to absorb. 24 * Sec. 2. AS 23.10.065(a) is amended to read: 25 (a) Except as provided under (b) of this section, an employer shall pay to each 26 employee wages at a rate of not less than $6.40 per hour [50 CENTS AN HOUR 27 GREATER THAN THE PREVAILING FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE LAW] for 28 hours worked in a pay period, whether the work is measured by time, piece, 29 commission, or otherwise. An employer may not apply tips or gratuities bestowed 30 upon employees as a credit toward payment of the minimum hourly wage required by 31 this section. Tip credit as defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as
01 amended does not apply to the minimum wage established by this section. 02 * Sec. 3. AS 23.10.065(a) is amended to read: 03 (a) Except as provided under (b) of this section, an employer shall pay to each 04 employee wages at a rate of not less than $7.15 [$6.40] per hour for hours worked in a 05 pay period, whether the work is measured by time, piece, commission, or otherwise. 06 An employer may not apply tips or gratuities bestowed upon employees as a credit 07 toward payment of the minimum hourly wage required by this section. Tip credit as 08 defined by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 as amended does not apply to the 09 minimum wage established by this section. 10 * Sec. 4. AS 23.10.065(a) is amended to read: 11 (a) Except as provided under (b) of this section, an employer shall pay to each 12 employee wages at a rate of not less than the amount established under (d) of this 13 section [$7.15 PER HOUR] for hours worked in a pay period, whether the work is 14 measured by time, piece, commission, or otherwise. An employer may not apply tips 15 or gratuities bestowed upon employees as a credit toward payment of the minimum 16 hourly wage required by this section. Tip credit as defined by the Fair Labor 17 Standards Act of 1938 as amended does not apply to the minimum wage established 18 by this section. 19 * Sec. 5. AS 23.10.065 is amended by adding new subsections to read: 20 (d) By March 15, 2003, and by March 15 of each subsequent year, the 21 department shall calculate a proposed increased minimum hourly wage by applying 22 the percentage increase in the consumer price index for the 12 months ending 23 December 31 of the preceding calendar year to the existing minimum hourly wage. 24 The proposed increased minimum hourly wage shall be calculated to the nearest five 25 cents. By March 15 of each calendar year, the department shall give notice of the 26 proposed increased minimum hourly wage calculated under this subsection by posting 27 the notice on the Alaska Online Public Notice System (AS 44.62.175), furnishing the 28 notice to persons who have requested notification, and providing a press release to the 29 media. In the notice, the department shall provide the public with an opportunity to 30 comment on the accuracy of the department's calculation. Fifteen days after posting 31 the notice on the Alaska Online Public Notice System, the department shall set the
01 new minimum hourly wage. Each increased minimum hourly wage set under this 02 subsection takes effect October 1 following the date that that new wage was set. The 03 process under this subsection is exempt from AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure 04 Act), but the amount of each new minimum hourly wage set under this subsection 05 shall be submitted to the lieutenant governor for publication in the Alaska 06 Administrative Code for informational purposes. 07 (e) For purposes of (d) of this section, if the consumer price index is revised, 08 the percentage increase is calculated on the basis of the revised index. 09 (f) In this section, "consumer price index" means 10 (1) the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers for all Items for 11 the Anchorage Metropolitan Area compiled by the United States Department of Labor, 12 Bureau of Labor Statistics; or 13 (2) if the index described in (1) of this subsection is superseded, the 14 index represented by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor 15 Statistics, as reflecting most accurately the changes in the purchasing power of the 16 dollar for consumers in this state. 17 * Sec. 6. Sections 1 and 2 of this Act take effect October 1, 2001. 18 * Sec. 7. Section 3 of this Act takes effect October 1, 2002. 19 * Sec. 8. Except as provided in secs. 6 and 7 of this Act, this Act takes effect March 15, 20 2003.