It’s official: Initiative 1433 easily qualifies for this fall’s ballot

OLYMPIA (July 22, 2016) — Today the Washington Secretary of State’s office announced that volunteers with Raise Up Washington turned in enough valid signatures that “easily exceeded” the number required to qualify.

Initiative 1433 will raise the statewide minimum wage to $13.50 over four years and give all Washington workers the opportunity to earn paid sick and safe leave. The campaign is led by a coalition of workers, unions, business owners, faith leaders and community organizations.

“We’ve seen unbelievable grassroots support over the last few months in communities across Washington,” said Carlo Caldirola-Davis, campaign manager for Yes on 1433. “This issue crosses geographical and political divides. When voters hear about Yes on 1433, they know it’s good for our workers, our families and our economy.”

After signatures with errors or missing information were removed, the secretary’s office reported signatures from 345,907 Washingtonians who want to vote “Yes” on Initiative 1433 this November.

More than 1,000 individual volunteers joined the signature drive effort, which began in March.

“We’ve been out in communities across Washington every day for months, talking to voters about how we can lift up workers and boost our economies,” said Ariana Davis, Initiative 1433 citizen sponsor and a Safeway grocery worker in Renton. “This initiative will make a difference for more than 1 million Washingtonians like me. No one should work a full-time job like mine and still not be able to support themselves or their families, or not have the sick and safe leave to stay home when they need to without losing a paycheck.”

By raising the minimum wage to $13.50 over four years, Initiative 1433 will add $600 to the pockets of more than 730,000 minimum wage workers across Washington. It will also allow more than 1 million workers without access to paid sick leave to begin earning it — a policy that a recent independent poll found 71 percent of Washington voters support.

The campaign will now begin connecting with voters across the state until the election on Nov. 8.