Governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign a bill on Monday to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. The Associated Press reports the bill passed the state Legislature on Thursday. This will make California’s minimum wage the highest in the country and will match New York’s new minimum wage which is also set to be raised to $15 an hour.
The Boyle Heights Beat previously wrote an article about the implications of having a $15 an hour minimum wage. The Beat spoke with José A. Fernández who manages a tenant services program for the East LA Community Corporation, a local organization that was part of the campaign to raise the local minimum wage.
“You have rents going up,” Fernández said. “You have the cost of food going up. You have transportation going up, and the cost of education going up– everything except for wages. While 10 years ago a family of four earning $30,000 were doing okay in the neighborhood of Boyle Heights, all of a sudden it’s not enough.”
Los Angeles had previously passed a $15 minimum wage last June and that is set to be raised over the next five years. AP writes that if Brown signs the new state wide minimum wage, the full $15 an hour would come to California by January 2022.
Photo above: A sign at a local business warns clients of higher prices because of the minimum wage increase.
