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California lawmakers moved swiftly to ratify a deal boosting the state minimum wage to $15, sending legislation to Gov. Jerry Brown just days after the governor announced a deal with labor leaders.
With his expected signature, Brown will avert a costly ballot fight, give California the nation’s highest wage and make it the first state to vindicate organized labor’s national “Fight for 15” rallying cry. The measure will gradually raise California’s minimum wage to $15 by 2022 and would allow Brown or his successor to suspend increases in the event of a economic downturn.
In the first significant test for new Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, Senate Bill 3 passed the Assembly floor on a 48-26 mostly party-line vote Thursday. Two Democrats voted no – Assembly members Adam Gray, D-Merced and Tom Daly, D-Anaheim – and Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield withheld a vote. Onlookers in the gallery erupted in cheers after the vote, with one man shouting “Si Se Puede!”
The Senate approved the measure 26-12.
Democratic backers called the bill a lifeline to workers struggling to survive on the current $10-an-hour minimum wage. It drew support from both liberals and business-friendly moderate Democrats.
“Stagnant wages have hindered economic growth and relegated too many Californians to a life of poverty, especially in the Inland Empire,” said Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown, D-San Bernardino, a moderate facing an election challenge from the left.
Republicans argued the bill would backfire, hurting the people it is intended to help by leading employers to cut entry-level jobs and raise prices. They warned an inflated cost of living would impoverish senior citizens living on fixed incomes.
“Income inequality is the definitive challenge of our generation,” said Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, R-Big Bear Lake, but “low wages are a symptom of income inequality. They are not the root cause.” A $15 minimum wage, he said, would “unintentionally make the problem much, much worse.”
Assemblyman David Hadley, R-Manhattan Beach, said it would inflict pain on economically beleaguered areas of California, criticizing lawmakers “who live in high-wage, affluent parts of coastal California, who are prepared to throw an entire region of this state under the bus.” He accused supporters of rushing needlessly, a critique echoed by a Democrat.
“What was the rush to do this?” asked Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, who noted she represents a city that had to declare bankruptcy but nevertheless voted for the bill. “I don’t have time to go before my chamber. I don’t have time to go before my farm bureau. I don’t have time to go and hear from people.”
Wage hikes would occur annually, beginning with a boost to $10.50 in 2017, and after the wage hits $15 it could continue to rise with inflation. The bill would also provide in-home health aides three sick days. According to the Department of Finance, a $15 wage would cost California about $4 billion a year.
Brown had warned a $15-an-hour wage must be done carefully, noting costs to employers and the state. But with a ballot measure heading for the November ballot, he negotiated with unions and other advocates to include provisions that allow governors to postpone an increase if the economy falters.
Jeremy B. White: 916-326-5543, @CapitolAlert
