Under a ballot measure proposed by Los Angeles anti-poverty activist and entrepreneur Joe Sanberg, California’s minimum wage could rise to $18 an hour by as soon as 2025. If it passed, the 2022 initiative would make California the US state with the highest minimum wage, The Sacramento Bee reports.
By January 2022 California’s minimum wage will reach $15 an hour, for the state’s bigger employers. Companies with 25 or fewer employees will have to pay their workers at least $15 an hour by 2023, climbing from $10 an hour in 2017.
The full impact of the state’s rising minimum wage is not yet known.
Mr Sanberg said California’s high rents and cost of living - in addition to its income inequality - make it necessary for the state to adopt an even higher minimum wage.
“The time is now because the pandemic has heightened the people’s understanding of the realities so many Californians face,” he said. “Cost of living is rising faster and faster,... but wages haven’t increased commensurately.”
Under the proposal, California’s minimum hourly wage would increase by $1 each year on January 1, until 2025 for bigger employers and 2026 for smaller employers. Following this, the minimum wage would continue to rise each year by the rate of inflation of up to 3.5 per cent. Mr Sanberg’s proposal would include a clause allowing a governor to suspend minimum wage increases for a year if the state has a significant budget deficit, a decline in job growth or sales tax revenue. Governor Gavin Newsom declined to use this off-ramp in 2020 when the global pandemic took hold.
Mr Sanberg has previously said he believes the minimum wage should be closer to $24 an hour, to reflect the rise of workers’ productivity in the last few decades. He reportedly said his $18 proposal reflects the “reality and the political consideration” needed to get support from the majority of Californians.
One million signatures required
Mr Sanberg is a founding investor of the meal delivery service Blue Apron and co-founder of Aspiration personal finance company. He has previously advocated for California to launch and expand its own earned income tax credit. The wage increase measure is one of the 2022 ballot proposals that could potentially set records for campaign spending. Four competing proposals for sports betting will also be gathering signatures, as well as measures to gut public unions and provide money to those attending private schools.
Mr Sanberg and other proponents need to gather at least one million signatures over the next few months to put their measure on the ballot for 2022. “This is an issue that speaks to people’s everyday lives. It’s easy to explain and easy to understand and I expect we’re going to win. We’re planning this to win,” he said.
Source: The Sacramento Bee
(Quotes via original reporting)
Under a ballot measure proposed by Los Angeles anti-poverty activist and entrepreneur Joe Sanberg, California’s minimum wage could rise to $18 an hour by as soon as 2025. If it passed, the 2022 initiative would make California the US state with the highest minimum wage, The Sacramento Bee reports.
By January 2022 California’s minimum wage will reach $15 an hour, for the state’s bigger employers. Companies with 25 or fewer employees will have to pay their workers at least $15 an hour by 2023, climbing from $10 an hour in 2017.
The full impact of the state’s rising minimum wage is not yet known.
Mr Sanberg said California’s high rents and cost of living - in addition to its income inequality - make it necessary for the state to adopt an even higher minimum wage.
“The time is now because the pandemic has heightened the people’s understanding of the realities so many Californians face,” he said. “Cost of living is rising faster and faster,... but wages haven’t increased commensurately.”
Under the proposal, California’s minimum hourly wage would increase by $1 each year on January 1, until 2025 for bigger employers and 2026 for smaller employers. Following this, the minimum wage would continue to rise each year by the rate of inflation of up to 3.5 per cent. Mr Sanberg’s proposal would include a clause allowing a governor to suspend minimum wage increases for a year if the state has a significant budget deficit, a decline in job growth or sales tax revenue. Governor Gavin Newsom declined to use this off-ramp in 2020 when the global pandemic took hold.
Mr Sanberg has previously said he believes the minimum wage should be closer to $24 an hour, to reflect the rise of workers’ productivity in the last few decades. He reportedly said his $18 proposal reflects the “reality and the political consideration” needed to get support from the majority of Californians.
One million signatures required
Mr Sanberg is a founding investor of the meal delivery service Blue Apron and co-founder of Aspiration personal finance company. He has previously advocated for California to launch and expand its own earned income tax credit. The wage increase measure is one of the 2022 ballot proposals that could potentially set records for campaign spending. Four competing proposals for sports betting will also be gathering signatures, as well as measures to gut public unions and provide money to those attending private schools.
Mr Sanberg and other proponents need to gather at least one million signatures over the next few months to put their measure on the ballot for 2022. “This is an issue that speaks to people’s everyday lives. It’s easy to explain and easy to understand and I expect we’re going to win. We’re planning this to win,” he said.
Source: The Sacramento Bee
(Quotes via original reporting)