California’s minimum wage will rise to $15.50, triggered by soaring inflation

SACRAMENTO — California’s minimum wage for all employers will rise to $15.50 an hour in January, advisors to Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday, the first time that rising inflation has triggered a provision of a 6-year-old state law governing automatic pay increases.
The announcement came one day before Newsom unveils a revised state budget plan, a new spending proposal for state government that relies on an updated economic forecast and one that will offer rental a*sistance and cash rebates to struggling Californians.

Keely Martin Bosler, the governor’s budget director, said the wage increase will help low-income families struggling with the rapid rise in prices for a wide variety of items.

“They have a huge impact to those families that are living off of those lower wages and their ability to cover the cost of goods,” she said.

The state’s minimum wage for large employers is currently $15 an hour, with employers that have fewer than 26 workers paying $14 an hour. Both pay levels went up in January, the presumed final step envisioned by a 2016 state law that gradually increased wages — in most years, by one dollar an hour. Small businesses were given more time to raise their pay.

Bosler said all businesses, regardless of size, will be required to raise their base salaries based on the state’s projection that the consumer price index will have risen by 7.6% over a two-year period that ends in July. The 2016 wage law signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown requires that any inflation growth above 7% triggers an even higher minimum wage.


“If high inflation sustains” beyond this summer, Bosler said, “it’s possible that there will be another jump by another 50 cents in the future years.”

California’s current $15 minimum hourly wage for large businesses is the nation’s highest, according to federal data. Two states currently require higher wages for small companies, though the change announced Thursday would likely vault California to the top of the list for all employment sectors. Some communities in the state already have plans for higher pay rules. In Los Angeles, the minimum wage will rise to $16.04 an hour in July.

The 2016 law was a compromise agreed to by state lawmakers after liberal activists qualified a ballot measure that called for an immediate increase to $15 an hour. The group agreed to withdraw its effort in favor of the law signed by Brown.


John Kabateck, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business California, said the unexpected change could hurt businesses that are already struggling.

“We recognize this is the law but this has the opposite effect on the people they’re trying to help,” he said. “This just adds more pain to the struggle.”

Thursday’s announcement came on the heels of another potential effort to put the salaries of low-wage workers on the ballot. Hours before state officials released their new inflation estimate, liberal activists submitted signatures on a proposed November ballot measure to raise the state’s minimum wage to $18 an hour over the next three years.

“Tacking 50 cents onto the current minimum wage doesn’t come close to making ends meet for working families,” said Joe Sanberg, the Los Angeles investor who is the proponent of the new ballot measure. “We need a living wage of $18 per hour to keep pace with inflation so that working people and their families can afford food and a place to live without having to take on second and third jobs.”

The Newsom administration’s projection was included in an announcement of an $18-billion package billed as inflation relief for Californians — a proposal that includes his plan for $400 rebates to car owners as well as expanded rental a*sistance and help covering past-due utility bills. Full details are expected in his release of a revised budget plan Friday.

 https://www.latimes.com/c .. -cents-january

Good for them

still not high enough

And companies will just add more money on top of their already inflated prices to offset.


What needs to happen is when the minimum wage is raised companies should be mandated to keep prices the same for a set amount of time and can only raise prices a set amount after. That way a wage increase is actually beneficial to the ones it's mean to be beneficial to.

But then the small mom and pop shops will suffer the most, which is fu*ked up too.

Cali>>>>>all them red states combined

BReNDon said Cali>>>>>all them red states combined

You think that’ll keep people from California from moving to states like Texas,Arizona, Georgia and Florida ? If they are so bad

NAKHI ALLAH said Good for them

Good for them how?? U dudes don't even be reading. It's only going up 50cent

This is crazy because with inflation it’ll just put them back where they were with their previous wage only it’ll look like progress was made!

NolaAtl said You think that’ll keep people from California from moving to states like Texas,Arizona, Georgia and Florida ? If they are so bad

sh*t Arizona is becoming more expensive too. Houses used to be 100k and up now it's at 400k-500k

That aint sh*t for cost of living in Cali

It's all a cycle ...yall that own homes better prepare them banks coming for yall houses

Artificially boost wages -> triggers an increase cost of goods -> boost wages to match higher costs -> ???

In California, we’ll all be in poverty soon.

So with inflation its still low as sh*t

Smh

Ohh. Now we're adjusting minimum wage for inflation. Guess that's what happens when exploiting labor for decades finally backfires.

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California home of the bat sh*t crazy people with no clue like @

CaLis LEGACY said It's all a cycle ...yall that own homes better prepare them banks coming for yall houses

No they aren't, stop repeating that.

$15.50 in California still qualifies you for section 8. Unless youre in some sh*thole like Stockton or Bakersfield of course....

jester2trife said $15.50 in California still qualifies you for section 8. Unless youre in some sh*thole like Stockton or Bakersfield of course....

Waiting list for section 8 like 5 years and up.. wish I would have jumped on it when the homie aunty was plugging with with 2 bd rm vouchers 2500 some years ago

Meanwhile muthafukkaz still expecting $15 haircuts... GTFOH!!!

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The jinx said view image California home of the bat sh*t crazy people with no clue like @

Slow your role on that California tip or else

NolaAtl said You think that’ll keep people from California from moving to states like Texas,Arizona, Georgia and Florida ? If they are so bad

Right wingers moving to blue states is good for blue states

2Pac Cares said Slow your role on that California tip or else

I got ya brother , thanks for giving me the courtesy of a warning.

$15.50 sounds so pathetic. how much can you do with that check every week? i mean just think about how much you can do in 1 hour and all you're getting is $15.50 for that hour. This sh*t is modern slavery, the rich just wants to keep us working forever for peanuts, grow old and die and continue the cycle. We need to find a way be our own boss f*ck all of these businesses and organizations. Hourly rates should be no less than $30-40 dollars an hour at least, to keep up with this insane inflation. Trust me they have more than enough to pay it they just choose not to..

Wages rise, prices rise…

Rinse repeat

Inflation will eat minimum wage up real quick