Calif. set to raise minimum wage to $10/hour
By David Siders, Sacramento Bee
A bill to raise the minimum wage in California to $10 an hour raced forward at the Capitol on Wednesday, with Democratic lawmakers poised to approve the measure and Gov. Jerry Brown announcing he would sign it.
The increase in the state’s minimum wage from $8 to $10 by 2016 would be the first since 2008, when it was raised by 50 cents to $8.
“The minimum wage has not kept pace with rising costs,” Brown said in a statement. “This legislation is overdue and will help families that are struggling in this harsh economy.”
The Democratic governor’s announcement came after Assembly Bill 10, by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, was amended Wednesday to raise the minimum hourly wage to $10 sooner than previously proposed. The bill is moving through the Legislature as lawmakers near the end of session this week.
The measure would raise the minimum hourly wage from $8 to $9 on July 1, 2014, and then to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016. Under an earlier version of the bill, the minimum hourly wage would not have reached $10 until 2018.
Does that mean that landlords can raise rent by 25% now?
Gee, that’ll help encourage businesses to hire.
The only reason govt wants to raise the minimum wage is because the higher the wage, the more THEY get in taxes. Taxes are not indexed. Get a clue, people. You will end up poorer.
Once again California sets the bar for all the rest of the states to follow. And they always do! Much to the chagrin of the CA haters. I love California and I am proud to be a California native!
Maybe the legislature is trying to attract new residents to replace the high end taxpayers which are leaving.
Bigs, California is a beautiful place. I don’t hate the state. But I do hate what the politicians and the takers have done to it. Raising minimum wage to $10 will not make things better for anybody. Basic economics will tell you that. Whenever the wage goes up, costs go up. In every way. It’s the old stone in the pond, ripple effect. The people at the bottom will STILL be at the bottom, only even lower.
Dog, are you saying giving someone the chance to earn a paycheck that is 25% larger won’t make things better for them? Do you REALLY expect to see YOUR cost of living jump by 25% by doing this? Is the cost of living for those minimum wage earners going to jump by 25%? I think not. It may jump by 1 or 2%, thereby leaving them with 23% of that raise (roughly). And that is bad because?
Yes. I REALLY believe that. Because when I started working, minimum wage was $2.45 an hour. And everything else was cheaper too. It’s such BASIC economics. I can’t believe you don’t get that. EVERYTHING else goes up right along with that wage. usually more. Like I said, the ripple effect.
And as I said, their taxes will go up as well. One of the little details the government neglects to mention.
Dog, let me re-iterate. You’re saying that a 25% increase in wage for the LOWEST wage earners in the nation is going to equate to a 25% cost of living raise for every economic level? You’re kidding, right? It won’t even equate to a 25% increase in your Big Mac or Whopper, so how will it equal 25% across the board in cost of living upticks?
He who doesn’t’ learn from history is condemned to repeat it.
People this is not a big deal, the CPI averages 3% a year and the min. wage has not increased in 5 years, if the min wage was indexed in 2008 to increase annually 3% a year we would be close to $10 an hour in 2016. this is just keeping up with the cost of inflation. And you can bet that the min wage will not be raised again until 2021 again.
Exactly Dog! And history sides with screwing the poor, doesn’t it? So this might be considered a break with history.
OK guys take it easy. Math with large numbers is not her forte.
25% is .25, when you multiple that by another fraction, the number is less. BASIC ARITHMETIC.
The Idiocracy is nigh.
Welcome to Costco, I love you.
$10/hr. adjusted for inflation is about the same minimum wage as it was before Reagan, when we had a vibrant middle class. Income inequality is the worst since the 1920’s and guess which group of taxpayers wants to keep it that way?
More money in the pockets of Tahoe’s working folks = more sales for local businesses.
Here’s some food for though on the minimum wage.
-if the 2008 minimum wage was indexed for inflation, the current wage would be $8.71, and the projected wage for 2016 would be $9.16 (assuming a continuation of the 1.7 inflation rate we have averaged since 2008)
– the industry that has the highest percent of minimum wage earners is leisure and hospitality, so any distortions in labor markets caused by minimum wage changes will be felt in the basin (for both employers and employees)
-BLS statistics show that the average household income for minimum wage earners is $53,000 per year. This reflects that minimum wage jobs are disproportionately held as second jobs, jobs by teenagers, pert time jobs by students and the like, and not as the primary income source for the household.
-Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit is probably a better way to raise household incomes above the poverty line than increasing the minimum wage. This is the approach Clinton took in the 90’s, and it seemed to be at least somewhat effective.
-There are a number of recent studies that show the traditional economic argument that increasing the minimum wage will decrease jobs has not held true in the last decade. This has not always been true. This trend points to the fact that the skill sets employed in these types of positions is marginally valued in today’s economy. Thus the path to traditional middle class economic security is not going to came from increasing the minimum wage, but from improving the skill sets of workers in these types of positions.
Dog, Yes a raise will change their immediate lives and local economy. I am an employer who has learned you get what you pay for. Yes my tax’s are stifling me and competition is tuff, but a company is only as good as the employees. Raise wages and raise the bar on quality.
My first job here was directing cars at heavenly lower gate ($4.25) . I learned to smile and got a raise, i then became a better employee and opportunities opened up as a new local.
I see it every day with my workers and pay more for happy workers.
If you gripe about taxes and gov’t, lets attack the source! Money in politics is the issue! ……. But that is a whole new conversation.
Michael Lee, there is an enormous difference between CHOOSING to pay an employee above minimum wage, and government FORCING you to pay a certain amount.
Voluntarism, not coercion, encourages excellence.
And the ones who benefit are the larger corporations, not the little guy or a super small biz like myself. We are also talking about the values of what motivates individuals to do better. Who can volunteer if they are hungry and stressed about day to day life…Asking for $10 an hour is not out of line…… Let it go Dog, you made your point.
Apparently I have not made my point, because many are still arguing it. And I’m not sure exactly what your point was in your last post.
ASKING for $10 is not out of line. Go ahead and ask. Make yourself WORTH $10 an hour. But government forcing an employer to pay more than a job (or a worker) is worth does nobody any favors.
You still do not understand basic economics.
We understand your point Dog, we just disagree with it. But feel free to keep beating a dead horse.
Dog it right, but the explanation is wrong. If we raise minimum wages then the costs of goods and services will go up by an amount equal to the increase in cost of wages. The people working for minimum wage are then right where they began. Raising minimum wages makes no economic sense but it gives people a warm fuzzy feeling I guess.
The important question is why are people working for minimum wage? That gets deep and involves institutional racism, poor allocation of resources to education etc. It a big problem. But raising minimum wage does nothing to fix any of that.
oh that pesky minimum wage! One would think that people would be willing to work for free, just for the chance of licking the scraps from Ayn Rands greasy plate. And to think the poor breed too(where do they EVER find the time and energy?) Next thing you know an unnamed poster(woof) and her acolytes will be suggesting a-la Jonathan Swift, that the poor eat their babies…to quiet the grumbling in their bellies, save on food and diaper costs, and to not burden the state with the need to educate them or tend to their medical care.
I find it disturbing that when the wealth of a nation becomes hyper-concentrated at the top due to implementation of gangrene politics it is the natural order of things, the free market working. But if the wealth is ‘redistributed’ towards the middle or bottom, even if it is still drastically imbalanced, then it is ‘socialism’ or ‘communism.’
What we need is a political and economic scenario where the first order of business(no pun intended) is well-being of all citizens. Idealistic? Sure. Unrealistic? Perhaps not. Independent studies show-based on data, not hysteria- that raising the minimum wage has a positive impact on the economic growth of a region.
Hmmm. your right on target. And that $2 an hour raise (implemented over the next two tears, not in one fell swoop) will go directly back into the economy, because folks who are living on minimum wage aren’t really known for hoarding all their heaps of money in the bank, not because they don’t want to but because they have no choice. When living hand to mouth saving tends to be low on the list of priorities, if it’s on the list at all!
Big that’s true, but if you increase the supply of money the purchasing power of the money stays the same. The people are no better off. You can prove this to yourself with some basic supply demand curves.
So John, I posed this question to Dog but received no answer. Are you saying that giving the lowest wage earners a 25% raise is going to create a 25% raise in the cost of living across the board economically? Seems to me your curve needs to be adjusted to take this little fact into consideration. Now if that 25% increase was across the board to ALL (making from 0 to millions) wage earners, you might have a point, but that’s not the case, is it?
So Biggerpicture, After taking many shots, you finally hit the bull’s eye. The wage increase is not across the board, it’s only for the low wage earners. So the effect on the overall economy will be greatly limited, and not result in widespread cost increases of 25 % . Dogula, you said “Everything else goes up right along with that wage.” He shot you down. Everything won’t go up, and certainly not 25%. What we will see are increased prices on products produced by minimum wage workers. I give you that. But most consumer products are manufactured by higher paid individuals. Those products will barely be effected by the new minimum wage. Dogula, that’s why they’re disagreeing with you. And they’re right. I do agree with you that this could adversely effect hiring in the low wage jobs.
So if minimum wage goes from $8 to $10, do you think the people who were making $10 will get a corresponding $2.20 raise? Nope.
The burgers at the fast food joint, though will get more expensive. The employer can’t pay more without charging more. He’ll go broke. Food margins are very tight. And as I mentioned before, government loves it when wages go up. They get more taxes. And the employer will also have to take more in SS, Medicare, workmen’s comp, obamacare (eventually) deductions and all the rest from the employees’ pay.
Minimum wage was never meant to be for providing for a family, any more than welfare was supposed to be a generational lifestyle. It was for kids getting their first work experience, getting a start on the ladder up. The socialization of this country has destroyed the ladder. As minimum wage has gone up, more people earn close to minimum because their slightly higher wages were not raised. Government is messing with your emotions on this issue. That’s how they get votes. They really are not helping anybody by artificially bumping up wages at the bottom. They just make it that much harder to get ahead for the middle class.
Hmmm…-Perfectly stated regardless of the bloviating arbiter of all that is right and wrong- what a joker
If raising the minimum wage is such a great idea, then let’s make it $50/hr! Right?
If govt. is going to dictate what people should be paid, and one doesn’t think there’s any negative consequences as a result of raising that amount, then what’s wrong with $50/hr?
Parker your hyperbole is ridiculous.
The problem isn’t that the minimum wage is too low, its that people over the age of 18 are working for it.
No child left behind has decimated vocational training in high schools. Now every kid is taught the test like they are going to college. They aren’t. Most kids are not meant to have professional careers. But sending them to vocational training brings down test scores.
Here’s a piece by a REAL economist.
http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2013/09/17/minimum-wage-madness-part-ii-n1701833
I wonder if any of you will actually read it?
So, I guess nobody read it.
Just in case anybody is interested in furthering their education, there is a FREE online course about to start called “Economics 101” put on by Hillsdale College in a few days. No stress. just sign up and learn. Here’s the link.
https://online.hillsdale.edu/econ101/register-01?=i1