Raise Up Washington, also known as “Yes On I-1433,” was a ballot initiative campaign that funded the effort to advocate for the adoption of a minimum wage increase in Washington state through a ballot initiative during the 2016 general election. The group raised over $4.3 million in support of the ballot measure, which provided for a phased-in minimum wage increase to $13.50 in 2020 (and thereafter allowed for automatic increases tied to inflation) and mandated employers to offer paid sick leave. The campaign was supported by Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, both candidates for the Democratic nomination for president at the time. The initiative was also supported by dozens of state and national labor unions as well as the Washington State Democratic Party, the Seattle Socialist Alternative, and a variety of left-of-center and far-left advocacy groups. The measure was adopted by voters in the 2016 election. ^{1 2}

Background

Raise Up Washington was formed by proponents of raising the minimum wage in Washington state in 2016. The supporters of the measure filed the petition with the state government in January 2016 and had until July 2016 to collect at least 246,372 signatures in order to get the initiative on the ballot. The group hired a firm called PCI Consultants Inc. to collect signatures and paid the firm $516,000 to collect approximately 360,000 signatures. The Washington Secretary of State’s office certified the signatures shortly after they were submitted in July 2016 and announced that Initiative 1433 would be on the November ballot. ³

At the time of the election the minimum wage in Washington State was $9.47 an hour, the eighth highest in the United States, and the City of Seattle had already adopted a $15 minimum wage in 2014. ⁴ The proposed statewide measure would have replaced existing law that gradually raised the existing minimum wage pursuant to inflation and proposed an almost immediate raise to $11 per hour with gradual increases to $13.50 in 2020. The wage would then be increased annually based on inflation. ^{5 6}

Another notable provision of the measure supported by Raise Up Washington was a mandate for employers to provide at least 40 hours per year in paid sick leave. Authorized uses of sick leave included physical or mental health care and treatment, providing care for a family member’s physical or mental health, and addressing legal needs or obtaining services related to domestic violence. ⁷

Funding

Raise Up Washington was the official support campaign of Initiative 1433 and spent over $4.3 million in support of the proposal, compared to only $85,000 spent by the opposition group to the measure, No on I-1433. ⁸

The top donor to Raise Up Washington was Nick Hanauer, a left-of-center donor based in Seattle who is a member of the Democracy Alliance and a prolific funder of left-of-center campaigns and organizations. Hanauer donated $1 million to Raise Up Washington. ⁹

Many groups and unions provided in-kind contributions to the campaign totaling over $911,000. UFCW Local 21, an affiliate of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), was the top in-kind contributor to Raise Up Washington. ¹⁰

Other donors to the effort included the SEIU Washington State Council, which donated $575,000 and the Fairness Project WA PAC, which gave $400,000 to the group. ¹¹

Opposition

Opposition to the Raise Up Washington campaign to pass Initiative 1433 was significantly outmatched in terms of funding. Those opposed to the measure were mostly right-of-center organizations and business groups including the Washington Republican Party, the Association of Washington Business, the National Federation of Small Business, Washington Farm Bureau, Washington Food Industry Association, Washington Retail Association, and the Washington Restaurant Association. ¹²

The opposing groups formed an opposition campaign to counter Raise Up Washington called No on I-1433, which raised only $85,000 compared to the $4.3 million raised by Raise Up Washington. ¹³

Supporters

Raise Up Washington was comprised of left-of-center groups and labor unions that both funded the effort and provided activist support to the effort. ¹⁴

The campaign was supported by the Washington Democratic Party, then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her rival in the 2016 Democratic primaries, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). Other politicians supportive of the campaign included Washington Governor Jay Inslee (D), Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), and Obama administration Labor Secretary Tom Perez. ¹⁵

The campaign was also supported by a minor political party called Seattle Socialist Alternative. ¹⁶

Other organizations that supported the campaign included the Main Street Alliance of Washington, 21 Progress, the American Association of University Women in Washington, Casa Latina, Equity in Education Coalition, Jobs for Justice, League of Women Voters, Jobs with Justice, LGBTQ Allyship, NAACP Spokane, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, the National Employment Law Project, Planned Parenthood, the National Organization for Women, Our Revolution, Transit Riders Union, Washington NAACP, Washington State Budget & Policy Center, WA State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Working America, and the YWCA of Seattle. ¹⁷

Unions that supported Raise Up Washington included the American Federation of Teachers Washington, Teamsters Joint Council, ROC United, SEIU Healthcare, Teamsters 117, the Washington Federation of State Employees, and the Washington State Labor Council. ¹⁸

1. “Washington Minimum Wage Increase, Initiative 1433 (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 2, 2022.  https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Minimum_Wage_Increase,_Initiative_1433_(2016)#cite_note-text-1
2. “Raise Up Washington.” Working Washington. Accessed October 2, 2022. http://www.workingwa.org/1433/raise
3.  “Washington Minimum Wage Increase, Initiative 1433 (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 2, 2022.  https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Minimum_Wage_Increase,_Initiative_1433_(2016)#cite_note-text-1
4. “2016 Initiative 1433 Final Text.” Washington Secretary of State. Accessed October 2, 2022. https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/initiatives/finaltext_954.pdf
5. About.” Raise Up Washington. Accessed via Wayback Machine October 2, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20161102132259/http://www.raiseupwa.com/about
6. “2016 Initiative 1433 Final Text.” Washington Secretary of State. Accessed October 2, 2022. https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/initiatives/finaltext_954.pdf
7. “2016 Initiative 1433 Final Text.” Washington Secretary of State. Accessed October 2, 2022. https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/initiatives/finaltext_954.pdf
8. “Washington Minimum Wage Increase, Initiative 1433 (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 2, 2022.  https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Minimum_Wage_Increase,_Initiative_1433_(2016)#cite_note-text-1
9. “Washington Minimum Wage Increase, Initiative 1433 (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 2, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Minimum_Wage_Increase,_Initiative_1433_(2016)#cite_note-text-1
10. “Washington Minimum Wage Increase, Initiative 1433 (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 2, 2022.  https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Minimum_Wage_Increase,_Initiative_1433_(2016)#cite_note-text-1
11.  “Washington Minimum Wage Increase, Initiative 1433 (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 2, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Minimum_Wage_Increase,_Initiative_1433_(2016)#cite_note-text-1
12.  “Washington Minimum Wage Increase, Initiative 1433 (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 2, 2022. https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Minimum_Wage_Increase,_Initiative_1433_(2016)#cite_note-text-1
13. “Washington Minimum Wage Increase, Initiative 1433 (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 2, 2022.  https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Minimum_Wage_Increase,_Initiative_1433_(2016)#cite_note-text-1
14. “Washington Minimum Wage Increase, Initiative 1433 (2016).” Ballotpedia. Accessed October 2, 2022.  https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Minimum_Wage_Increase,_Initiative_1433_(2016)#cite_note-text-1
15. “Endorsements.” Raise Up Washington. Accessed via Wayback Machine October 2, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20161027203119/http://www.raiseupwa.com/endorsements/
16. “Seattle Socialist Alternative 2016 Ballot Initiatives Recommendation.” Seattle Socialist Alternative.  November 3, 2016. Accessed October 2, 2022. https://www.socialistalternative.org/2016/11/03/seattle-socialist-alternative-2016-ballot-initiatives-recommendation/
17. ^[1]  “Endorsements.” Raise Up Washington. Accessed via Wayback Machine October 2, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20161027203119/http://www.raiseupwa.com/endorsements/
18. “Endorsements.” Raise Up Washington. Accessed via Wayback Machine October 2, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20161027203119/http://www.raiseupwa.com/endorsements/