SeaTac, Washington – This suburb of Seattle with a population of 27,000 people defied a well-funded opposition to the minimum wage increase when it voted to raise the minimum wage to $15/hr.
The Koch Brothers, long the bane of liberals, tried to squash the measure with claims that the increase would drive employers out of business and result in less employment. While there is plenty of evidence to show that increases in the minimum wage have cost people their jobs, it did not happen in this city.
Instead, economic activity has spurred and resulted in growth. In fact, some of the principle businesses who fought the measure out of concern they would have to close down are actually growing. For example, the owner of the Cedarbrook Lodge hotel feared that the increase in wages would force him out of business. Instead, he is expanding his enterprise by 63 rooms and needs to hire more people. Obviously, he will have an easy time hiring people given that the surrounding areas still pay the low minimum wage. This puts SeaTac at the enviable position of attracting a steady stream of unskilled labor eager to get a 100% pay raise by simply working inside the city limits.
The political Left is quick to assert that the entire nation could experience economic growth if the government were to mandate a similar increase nationwide. Regardless of the validity of that claim, SeaTac is reaping the immediate benefits of the wage increase. Even the city’s airport is being expanded to handle the influx of air traffic.