$15 hourly minimum wage in northwest city faces court challenge

The highest municipal minimum wage in the nation, approved by voters last month in the small city of SeaTac, Wash., at $15 an hour, survived a narrow election and a recount. Now, just weeks before its scheduled Jan. 1 start date – raising the pay of thousands of SeaTac residents and workers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which is within the city limits — opponents are sending in the lawyers.

At a hearing scheduled for Friday in King County Superior Court in Seattle, Judge Andrea Darvas is expected to rule on whether to affirm the statute, strike it down or perhaps hold it in abeyance. Supporters of the measure said they were braced for a loss, and were preparing an emergency appeal to the state’s highest court.

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