California Lawmakers Pass Wage Bills
Two bills proposing a $1 increase in California’s minimum wage have been passed by the Senate and Assembly and are heading to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s desk.
Assembly Bill 1835, authored by Sally Lieber (D-Mountain View), and Senate Bill 1162, authored by Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), each propose two 50-cent increases in the minimum wage over the next two years. The increases would raise California’s minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.75 by July 2008. (The federal minimum wage is $5.15.)
Lieber’s bill passed on May 31 by a 43- 30 vote and Cedillo’s bill passed on June 1 by a 25-13 vote. Each bill includes provisions for indexing, or instituting additional increases based on the inflation rate, beginning in 2009.
Although the governor has indicated that he is amenable to a wage hike—he has proposed his own $1 minimum-wage increase— he has said he opposes automatic wage hikes. Schwarzenegger has vetoed two minimum-wage increase bills in the past two years.
The governor has requested the Industrial Welfare Commission to evaluate a possible wage hike, and it held a public hearing on the matter on June 7. The IWC instituted California’s last minimum-wage increase in 2001. —Alison A. Nieder
