California residents could be looking at a minimum wage increase to $15 per hour by 2022, according to a March 28 announcement by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Brown, along with fellow Democrats and labor leaders, is proposing legislation that would incrementally raise California’s minimum wage over the next six years, starting with an increase from $10 to $10.50 on Jan. 1, 2017.
“It’s a matter of economic justice, it makes sense, and it will help our entire state do much better for its citizens,” Brown said at a press conference.
Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) said at the conference that while consumer costs, corporate profits, and executive bonuses have “skyrocketed,” wages have remained stagnant.
“In the wealthiest state in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one, no one who works full-time, should be forced to live in poverty,” de Leon said.
His message resonates with Santa Maria, where 2013 census data placed the poverty rate at 23.5 percent—significantly greater than the state average of 15 percent.
But Santa Maria Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Glenn Morris said a higher minimum wage won’t solve the poverty issue.
“We’re looking at one piece of the puzzle and hoping it’ll solve the whole problem,” Morris said. “I think the Legislature needs to acknowledge that there’s a much broader conversation that needs to happen, and it’s not just about asking businesses to pay more.”
Morris pointed out that higher wages tend to correlate with higher cost of living. For this reason, he said more sustainable methods of tackling poverty would include investing in workforce development and relaxing regulations that may discourage businesses from creating jobs.
“Minimum wage was never intended to be a wage that sustained somebody for their whole life,” Morris said. “It was supposed to be an entry-level wage, something you did while you were learning, and then you’d move on to a higher-paying job.”
He said legislators should focus on making sure people have the skills they need to qualify for higher-paying jobs, which could mean investment in community college or high school coursework that prepares students for “real jobs, not dream jobs.”
Still, if Gov. Brown’s bill passes the Legislature, Morris said he doesn’t foresee it overturning businesses—just hindering job growth.
“I don’t personally think you’ll see large numbers of businesses close or wholesale lay off their people,” he said. “They’ll find ways to adapt. But I think it’ll be a damper on growth.”
Brown’s legislation gives small businesses some wiggle room by allowing those with 25 or fewer employees an extra year to comply with the minimum wage jump. It also gives the governor authority to delay wage increases in the case of recession or budgetary downfall, and wages would continue increasing after 2023 to keep up with inflation.
“Unlike other efforts, this thing is the result of a lot of thinking, a lot of discussion,” Brown said at the press conference. “We can do right by workers, we can advance our economy, and we can do it through the legislative process.”
This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 7, 2016.