California and New York are poised to become the highest-paid minimum-wage states in the US after governors for both reached deals with lawmakers to raise the lowest amount a worker can be paid to a record-shattering US$15 per hour.
California Governor Jerry Brown said he would sign the state’s new minimum-wage bill on Monday in Los Angeles after it passed the legislature on Thursday.
Across the country in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo reached a tentative deal late on Thursday with local lawmakers to also raise the state’s minimum wage to US$15.
Photo: Bloomberg
The actions in two of the nation’s most labor-friendly states come as the income divide has become a key issue across the US in this presidential election year. US President Barack Obama, who first proposed an increase to the federal minimum wage in 2013, applauded the states’ actions and called on the Republican-controlled Congress to “keep up with the rest of the country.”
“California takes a massive leap forward today in the fight to rebalance our nation’s economy,” California Labor Federation executive secretary-treasurer Art Pulaski said.
California’s current US$10 per hour minimum wage is tied with Massachusetts for the highest among states. Only Washington, at US$10.50 per hour is higher. New York’s minimum wage is US$9.
Democrats who control both legislative chambers in California hailed the increase as a boon to more than 2 million workers. Brown, also a Democrat, said it proves the nation’s largest state can get things done and help people get ahead.
However, Republicans echoed fears from business owners and economists that California’s annual increases — eventually tied to inflation — would compound the state’s image as hostile to business.
The increases would start with a boost from US$10 to US$10.50 on Jan. 1. Businesses with 25 or fewer employees would have an extra year to comply. Increases of US$1 per hour would come every January until 2022. The governor could delay increases in times of budgetary or economic downturns.
In New York City, the wage would increase to US$15 by the end of 2018, though businesses with fewer than 10 employees would get an extra year.
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