Gov. Brown hails deal to raise minimum wage to $15 as 'matter of economic justice'

[Eugene]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Gov. Brown hails deal to raise minimum wage to $15 as 'matter of economic justice'

By John Myers and Liam Dillon

MARCH 28, 2016, 1:49 PM | REPORTING FROM SACRAMENTO

In a move catapulting California into uncharted national territory, Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday a six-year plan to boost the statewide minimum wage to $15 an hour, promising that millions of low-wage workers would receive the help they desperately need.

"It's a matter of economic justice. It makes sense," Brown said at a news conference at the state Capitol, surrounded by Democratic leaders of the Legislature and those from some of the state's most prominent labor unions.

The agreement, first reported by The Times on Saturday, would reinforce California's position as having the highest minimum wage of any state. It also sets in motion a series of important political and policy changes. Most pressing, the brokered deal is expected to cancel two separate labor-sponsored efforts at placing a wage hike initiative on the November ballot.

The plan, expected to be voted on by the Legislature before the end of the week, would raise the statewide minimum wage by 50 cents on Jan. 1 to $10.50 an hour. From there, it would rise to $11 in 2018 and subsequent dollar-a-year increases ending at $15 on Jan. 1, 2022.

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Read more: http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-jerry-brown-minimum-wage-deal-20160328-story.html

[stopbush]

1. An unemployed person living in CA can receive a max of $475 a week un UI benefits.

A minimum wage of $15 an hour = $600 for a 40-hour work week.

Hard to think that a person on unemployment in CA would be receiving less money a week than a minimum wage job offers.

[dana_b]

2. Six years??

I know that I should be happy about this but six years seems too long to me.