Spurred by legislation from Assemblyman Luis Alejo, California’s minimum wage is set to increase from $8 an hour to $9 an hour one week from today.
The new minimum wage, approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown last September, will increase the minimum wage to $9 next Tuesday before another hike to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25, while California has a much higher average cost of living than the average state. The Golden State’s wage increase comes in the wake of debates throughout the nation over the minimum wage. Some have argued in favor of a $15 per hour federal minimum wage, while Seattle this month OK’d a gradual hike to $15 per hour, according to media reports.
Next Tuesday’s wage hike in California will be the first in the state since 2008.
According to a statement from Alejo, the Salinas Democrat representing San Benito County:
“Over the last few years, California’s low-wage workers have seen their earnings decline. The California Budget Project reports that between 2006 and 2012, inflation-adjusted earnings for the bottom fifth of California earners declined by almost 6 percent. To add, inflation has eroded the purchasing power of California’s minimum wage over the past four decades. In fact, California’s minimum wage is less than the minimum wage workers earned in 1979.”
Look back for more.
