California is poised to enact the highest statewide minimum wage in the country as early as this Thursday with a proposal to raise it to $15 per hour by 2022.
On Monday, Gov. Jerry Brown reached a deal with state legislators that would raise an estimated 6.5 million Californians’ wages.
Businesses with fewer than 25 employees will have an extra year to comply.
The state minimum wage, which currently stands at $10 an hour, will be raised to $10.50 in 2017, $11 in 2018, and by a dollar more each year from there.
“This plan raises the minimum wage in a careful and responsible way and provides some flexibility if economic and budgetary conditions change,” Brown said when he announced the deal, which allows him or his successor to opt out should the state economy start to sour.
Business-friendly Democrats in the State Senate and Assembly will be key to passing the wage raise in the Democratic-controlled legislature.
Assemblyman Das Williams and Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, Santa Barbara County representatives in the state legislature, both expressed support for the proposal.
“The cost of living in the Santa Barbara area is higher than the California average and much higher than the national average,” Williams said in a statement.
“The governor's proposal raises the minimum wage in a way that provides people who work hard but only make minimum wage the ability to provide for their families, while still allowing businesses some flexibility if economic and budgetary conditions change.”
Jackson, who said she was going to co-author the legislation, told Noozhawk that a bill, which is still moving from an agreed-upon deal to actual legislation, could be voted on as early as Thursday and as late as Monday.
“While we’ve seen a number of cities looking to increase their minimum wage, (that) leaves us with a potential for a patchwork of different minimum wages depending upon the city,” she said.
“And then we could have different municipalities competing against each other for workers.”
Los Angeles and San Francisco have already established their own $15-per-hour wage plans.
The statewide proposal comes as strikers around the country, especially in the fast food industry, have become increasingly vocal about a $15 wage, which has received increasing support from Democratic politicians and continued opposition from many Republican officials.
A dramatic wage raise in the largest state in the country could catalyze the movement in other parts of the country, Jackson said.
“For so many of these people, particularly when we’re talking about minimum wage, we’re talking about basic subsistence,” she said.
“People don’t put this money in the bank and save it for a rainy day — they spend it now because they need to.”
The bill’s passing would eliminate the need for a union-backed ballot initiative to be voted on in November that seeks the same minimum wage hike.
— Noozhawk staff writer Sam Goldman can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
