California Senate passes higher minimum wage bill | Global News

California Senate passes higher minimum wage bill

/ 03:21 AM June 03, 2014

• Bill would give Californians  top  minimum wage in the nation by ‘17

• Automatically adjusted for inflation annually starting in ‘18

• Aimed at reducing poverty, income gap

Article continues after this advertisement

LOS ANGELES – California’s State Senate on Thursday, May 29, voted 21-12 to raise the state’s minimum wage to at least $13 per hour by 2017.

FEATURED STORIES

The bill would also require the minimum wage to be automatically adjusted for inflation annually beginning in 2018.

The adjustments would be calculated using the California Consumer Price Index and reductions in the minimum wage would be prohibited if inflation becomes negative in any given period.

Article continues after this advertisement

California Partnership (CAP) Director Vanessa Aramayo said “an increase in California’s minimum wage is long overdue as it is lower than it was in 1965 when adjusted for inflation.

Article continues after this advertisement

SB 935 sponsored Sen. Mark Leno would  “reduce the number of Californians living in poverty, reduce the number of people going hungry, and increase economic activity in our communities that have been hardest hit by the economic recession and stagnation of wages.”

Article continues after this advertisement

A recent report by Human Impact Partners cites a study that predicts a minimum wage of $13 would help reduce the record-high income gap that exists in California today.

The study predicts that the income of 7.6 million Californians in families in the lowest quarter of income distribution would rise while the net income of the top 75 percent of households would not change.

Article continues after this advertisement

California Partnership, a coalition of community groups, is a co-sponsor of the bill along with the Women’s Foundation, the Western Center on Law and Poverty, United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the California State Council of Service Employees International Union.

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our daily newsletter

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

TAGS: Poverty, Sen. Mark Leno

Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.

Subscribe to our newsletter!

By providing an email address. I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy.

© Copyright 1997-2024 INQUIRER.net | All Rights Reserved

This is an information message

We use cookies to enhance your experience. By continuing, you agree to our use of cookies. Learn more here.