CHRISTOPHER PADALINSKI
California State Capitol
SACRAMENTO — A bill to increase California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour moved with lightning speed through the Legislature and is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown, who is expected to sign it.
The measure will incrementally increase the minimum wage to $15 by 2022. It would also allow Brown or subsequent governors to suspend increases if the economy slows.
Senate Bill 3 passed in the Assembly Thursday, 48-26, mostly along party lines. Two Democrats voted no: Assembly members Adam Gray, D-Merced and Tom Daly, D-Anaheim. Assemblyman Rudy Salas, D-Bakersfield withheld his vote.
The Senate approved the measure by a vote of 26-12.
The Sacramento Bee quoted Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, D-Stockton, who questioned why the bill had to move so quickly.
“I don’t have time to go before my chamber,” Eggman said. “I don’t have time to go before my farm bureau. I don’t have time to go and hear from people.”
Gray said he opposed the bill partly because it allows additional spending by the state.
“In January, the governor promised fiscal responsibility and to live within our means,” Gray said. “The governor wisely stated at that time that we must heed history’s warning that surpluses are always nearly followed by years of shortfalls. The governor stated that additional permanent spending commitments, however noble, would return our state to the years of multibillion dollar deficits.”
Gray also said it would be particularly hard on Merced County, which still has double-digit unemployment.
“The reality is that in some areas of the state, $15 may not be high enough,” Gray said. “But in other areas, like Merced, we will suffer. I honestly don’t know how we will pay for these massive new costs.”
Assemblywoman Kristen Olsen called the bill “one-size-fits-all legislation.”
“A thoughtful minimum wage policy would recognize the differences in our state’s regional economies and living costs – and at the very least would require a post-implementation analysis of how people, families, and economies in all parts of the state are impacted,” she said.
The Central Valley is where the highest concentration of workers would be impacted. According to the Center for Business and Policy Research from the University of the Pacific, 52 percent of San Joaquin County workers, 50 percent of those in Stanislaus County and 60 percent of Merced County workers have wages that would be affected by the legislation.
However, Republicans argued raising the minimum wage would workers because small businesses would not be able to afford the increase and would cut entry-level jobs.
Gov. Jerry Brown helped craft the deal for the bill with labor leaders to avert an expensive ballot battle over the issue. It allowed him to include the provision that will let governors postpone an increase if the economy turns.
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