A mere six months after a $15 minimum wage for federal workers did not take form, Californians may get the possibility of voting on more generous minimum hourly wage.
The measure that would raise the minimum wage for California to $18 was first introduced to collect petition signatures back in February. If the campaign, dubbed”the Living Wage Act of 2022 receives 700,000 signatures it will be on the California November ballot in November.
“The purchasing ability that the federal minimum wage diminishes as time passes,” said Joe Sanberg who is an entrepreneur and co-sponsor of the bill. “That means we need to continue fighting for a higher minimum wage to ensure that the working population can meet the essential needs of their lives.”
If it is enacted the measure will gradually increase wages for minimum workers for California by $18 from $16 in 2025. This means it will be raised to $16 in 2023, and then $17 in 2024. It would only apply to companies with over 25 staff members. businesses with less than 25 employees will be paid $17 per hour by 2025.
“The fact of America is that the vast majority of Americans who work full-time live on the edge of financial ruin” Sanberg said. Sanberg and added that a greater minimum wage would aid in supporting those of color as well as essential workers.
The hourly workforce will be given an extra boost
If the legislation is successful it will grant 5.5 million residents in California the opportunity to earn more than $6,000 annually. California’s minimum wage was raised to $15 an hour in the year 2022’s beginning however, some regions within the state decided to set their own minimum wage levels higher.
The tax hike will also be applicable to workers who are tipped and would be adjusted to keep up with inflation beyond 2025.
Although many companies have raised their wages to attract workers during the Great Resignation, it’s important to have a policy in place which establish a ceiling for wages, according to Saru Jayaraman, the president of the advocacy the group One Fair Wage.
Additionally, it’s crucial to increase compensation on a regular basis since workers are currently being confronted with the most inflation in the past 40 years. This has resulted in increase in wages however, the existence of a law guarantees workers that employers will not reduce their wages in the future in the event that inflation slows down as Jayaraman has said.
At the beginning of the year the year, 26 states including California have increased the minimum wage to $15/hour.
The Biden administration had initially proposed an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 in the legislation governing Covid-relief, however, it was subsequently dropped. The president Joe Biden was, however capable of raising his minimum salary to $15 per hour for federal contractors of all types and employees, a raise which took effect on January. 30.
Of course, not everyone is in favor of increasing the federal minimum wage. Democrats eliminated the possibility of raising the national minimum wage from their legislation in the last legislative session following an amendment proposed by senator. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa. Ernst claimed that increasing wage levels during Covid pandemic could hurt small businesses who were in the midst of to suffer.
Additionally, increasing pay could lead to the loss of employment. A report released in 2021 by the Congressional Budget Office found that increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour in 2025 could result in 1.4 million jobs being lost. However, it could bring 900,000 out of poverty as per the report.
The Raise the Wage Act, which will gradually increase the minimum wage in the United States to $15 per hour by 2025, has been approved in the House however, it is still in the process of being ratified by the Senate.
The minimum wage for federal workers at $7.25 and not raised since 2009. But the minimum wage of $15 is not enough to cover the costs to live within the U.S., according to the most recent CNBC analysis of cost-of-living statistics that was compiled by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
This has prompted those who want to raise wage levels to join forces on a state-level, explained Jayaraman. A group called Fair Wage is looking to increase the minimum wage in the 25 U.S. states by 2026 according to her. A majority of Americans are in favor of greater wages, and a number of states have been able adopt their own laws to increase wages for workers.
“Given that we’re not seeing any change in Congress we decided to take it upon ourselvesto do so,” she explained. “You must profit from the current situation.”
