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This year marks 50 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on poverty. Ostensibly, one of the most important weapons in his arsenal was the federal minimum wage. Since 1964, the federal minimum wage has been raised periodically, always with the hope that a minimum wage is synonymous with a living wage.

However, half a century later, many people equate the minimum wage with a poverty wage, while others question whether there should be a minimum wage at all. This is a national debate that often pits workers against business owners.

On the one hand, some workers’ rights groups argue that the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 per hour for the past four years, is far too low. We now have become familiar with terms like the “working poor” and “poverty wages.” Advocates of a higher minimum wage argue that raising it stimulates economic growth because there is extra spending from workers’ extra earnings.

On the other hand, a number of small businesses say that an increase in the minimum wage hurts job growth. Business owners warn that an increase in the minimum wage results in fewer entry-level jobs and even causes some businesses to go under because they cannot afford to pay their workers’ wages. Additionally, others point out that having a minimum wage prevents people who would be willing to work for less from getting jobs at all. They argue that the minimum wage especially hurts teenagers and young adults with few skills or none.

Legislatures across the nation are proving to be the battleground in this debate. On the federal front, there is a push in Congress to raise the minimum wage in several increments to $10.10 by 2015. However, that effort has faltered and is not expected to gain traction in the foreseeable future.

The focus then turns to the states, and many raised their minimum wage last year. On Jan. 1, 13 states increased their minimum wage by increments ranging from 10 cents to $1 per hour, leading to greater hourly pay for 2.5 million workers, and a $619.2 million boost to economic growth, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Meanwhile, state legislators are expected to consider minimum wage increases this year in Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Hampshire, according to the National Employment Law Project. Achieving a pay hike through a ballot initiative is also a possibility in Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Massachusetts, New Mexico and South Dakota. The District of Columbia is poised to raise its minimum hourly pay to $9.50 on July 1 – and eventually to $11.50 – as the city council awaits approval from the mayor.

Locally, Washington state, by increasing its minimum wage 13 cents to $9.32 per hour, maintained the highest state minimum wage in the nation. Moreover, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced that he is promoting an additional increase to the minimum wage of $1.50 to $2.50 an hour. Oregon ranks second among states, with a minimum wage of $9.10 per hour after a 15 cent increase as of Jan. 1.

Recently, the Northwest has been on the front lines of the minimum wage battle. The city of SeaTac made national headlines last month when it raised its minimum wage to $15 per hour. Although a judge struck down the ordinance’s provision that would have covered more than 4,500 employees at Sea-Tac International Airport, the judge left the remaining parts of the ordinance intact. That leaves 1,600 workers at larger hotels and parking lots in the city of SeaTac as beneficiaries of the ordinance, which also provides for automatic, annual cost-of-living increases to the minimum rate as well as paid sick leave and prohibits tip sharing with supervisory employees or workers who did not provide the service.

As businesses in Oregon wonder about the future of the minimum wage, many signs point to a higher one ahead. The passage of Measure 25, approved by Oregon voters on Nov. 5, 2002, requires the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries to calculate an annual adjustment to the minimum wage each September for the following calendar year. The annual adjustment is based on any increase during the previous 12 months in the U.S. city average Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers for all items.

Under this law, the minimum wage is to be rounded to the nearest five cents and take effect on Jan. 1 of the year following each adjustment. Accordingly, under Measure 25, basic increases will continue. Additionally, state leaders may support a more drastic increase in the minimum wage.

“If the minimum wage had simply kept pace with the rising cost of living since the late 1960s, it would be more than $10.55 today,” Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber and former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire wrote Jan. 3, 2013 in an op-ed for POLITICO.

No matter what your view is on the proper amount or function of the minimum wage, it is an issue that should be on the radar for anyone doing business in the state of Oregon.

Laura Salerno Owens is an attorney with Barran Liebman LLP. She focuses her practice on employment litigation and advice. Contact her at 503-276-2111 or [email protected].