Waitress Brooke Shuey of GW Hunters serves customers Cheryl and Terry Flemming at the Post Falls restaurant on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016. Restaurant owner George Peichev says he already feels pressure from better-paying jobs across the border in Washington. If Washington voters agree to raise the minimum wage to $13.50, it will be very hard to find and keep entry-level workers such as dishwashers. (Kathy Plonka/SR photo)

George Peichev says it’s difficult to find and keep dishwashers at his Post Falls restaurant, GW Hunters. Workers can earn more across the state line, where Washington’s minimum wage is $2.22 an hour higher than Idaho’s.

If Washington voters approve Initiative 1433 next month, the starting wage gap between the two states will grow to $3.75 next year and could be as much as $6.25 by 2020, if Idaho’s minimum wage remains locked at $7.25 an hour.

Idaho businesses near the border will have to raise prices sharply to remain competitive in the job market, or they’ll have to close, Peichev said.

“I don’t understand why they’re going that way, but that’s what is going to happen,” he said. “And believe me, nobody’s going to make more money.”

The disparity in wages between Spokane and Kootenai counties also would be felt north of Coeur d’Alene at Silverwood Theme Park, one of the region’s largest employers of summer workers, many of them high school and college students.

“I think it will have a somewhat dramatic effect, if the jobs are available in Washington,” said John Jachim, human resources director at Silverwood.

“If the initiative passed, I don’t feel that we would be able to keep our wages the same and be competitive,” Jachim said. “Our wages would have to go up as well.”

And that could lead to higher park prices. “The money would have to come from somewhere,” he said.

I-1433 would raise the minimum wage to $13.50 an hour over the next four years, placing Washington with California and New York as the states with the highest minimum wage/Scott Maben, SR. More here (subscription).

Question: How much higher should Idaho's minimum wage be?