Off Year for State Minimum Wage Moves Complicated by Coronavirus

Blue states have shown reluctance this year to pull the trigger on $15 minimum wage proposals, and now the novel coronavirus threatens an economic downturn that could further slow state minimum wage increases.

Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Virginia—all states with Democratic-majority legislatures and Democratic governors—began the year with legislative proposals in the works for a $15 minimum wage to be phased in over several years. Each of them has since moved forward with a smaller wage increase plan, just as Colorado and Vermont have pursued minimum wage expansions that stop short of the $15 goal worker advocates have long proposed. ...