CA Min Wage Increase Signed Into Law

California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Wednesday signed a bill approving a $2 minimum wage increase to be rolled out over the next three years. Unless another state passes a larger increase, the bump will make California's minimum wage the highest in the country.

The governor joined legislators, business owners and workers at a signing ceremony in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, with plans to fly to another ceremony in Oakland that afternoon.

“For millions of California’s hardworking minimum wage employees, a few extra dollars a week can make a huge difference to help them provide for their families,” said state Senate President pro tem Darrell Steinberg in a release. "They deserve a modest boost and after six years, an increase in California’s minimum wage is the right thing to do.”

The minimum wage will go up in two separate $1 increments. The first will bump the rate from $8 to $9 in July 2014, and the second increase, to $10, will come in January 2016. According to the Economic Policy Institute, about 3 million Californians are currently working for minimum wage.

Many low-wage workers across the state hailed the news.

Anthony Goytia, who works the overnight shift at a Walmart store in Duarte, currently lives in a garage with his wife and two children, while a third is on the way.

“If I had a higher wage, we would be able to rent an apartment,” he told The Huffington Post. “[Right now] we’re living in poverty. I have to live check to check.”

He detailed the struggles of living off a low wage, especially with a family. “I want to be able to buy my kids shoes if they need them and not wait for our income tax [return] to do it,” he said. “I want to give my wife money for maternity pants and underwear. She needs bras. It’s just ridiculous.”

Goytia said his family cannot afford Walmart’s health insurance plan and must depend on Medi-Cal, the state's Medicare program, instead. They also frequently receive food stamps.

“I really don’t want to depend on food stamps,” he told HuffPost. “I’m a hardworking person; I want to be a proud, working American that’s not on public assistance."

Maria Cristobal works seasonally in a packinghouse or in the lettuce and chile fields near where she lives with her two children in Fresno.

“Two more dollars would impact me a lot,” she told HuffPost. “I would definitely like to have more money for the house, for food, for rent, utilities.”

But she worries that a minimum wage hike might equal a price hike as well.

“When they raise wages, they raise prices of things," she said. "I think companies will cut back on hiring people, and it’s hard to find work sometimes.”

Brown, however, argued the reverse, saying wages in California have stagnated while consumer prices have continued to rise.

“The minimum wage has not kept pace with rising costs,” the governor said in a release. “This legislation is overdue and will help families that are struggling in this harsh economy.”

But by the time the $10 minimum takes effect, it will probably still be outpaced by inflation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, $10 per hour in 2016 is equivalent to roughly $9.36 in today's dollars.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles) also disputed the idea that the minimum wage increase would put a drag on the economy.

“A $10 hour minimum wage boosts earnings by $4,000 a year and will put $2.6 billion dollars back into the hands of workers,” he said. “This is money that will be spent at grocery stores, on school supplies and invested in education, and that ultimately strengthens the recovery and ensures California’s job market continues growing faster than the rest of the nation.”

Poverty is unthinkable in a country as rich as the US, but does anyone see the irony in the guy saying he works his butt off at minimum wage to support his wife (who's employment isn't mentioned) and 2 kids and another on the way... When you can only afford to buy your kids shoes once a year, WHY ARE YOU HAVING MORE?!

Because in states like CA it's so easy to claim unemployment, while working and still get food-stamps. Oh yeah you can also exchange your food-stamps for cash at most liquor stores(illegally of course). The well-fare and unemployment system in CA really babies lower-income people here.

McDonald's decided to teach its employees how to create one (budget). But in doing so, the company may have inadvertently done something else: Shown that it’s nearly impossible to make a living off the minimum wage.

There's a more important conversation here than people abusing the system.

Forbes article about a sample budget that Mcdonald's offered to it's employees to prove that their wages were sufficient and it was that their employees weren't able to manage a budget.

"When you can only afford to buy your kids shoes once a year, WHY ARE YOU HAVING MORE?!"

I don't think mininum wage alone is sufficient to support a average cost of living. However, minimum wage is typically for entry-level positions that require little or no skill. Entry level position salary isn't meant to support the average cost of living. If it is meant to do so- then what does that say about individuals who have pursued formal education or training?

It's very disheartening to the 2- or 4-year graduate of today who is making 13/hr, working their *** off, when an individual who has invested almost nothing into formal training/education is making almost as much as you...

This is an entire different conversation or at least it should be. Why aren't we educating people on birth control? Why do we keep trying to defund clinics that offer free or reduced birth control? Why do we have free day care centers at high schools?

If you don't think minimum wage alone is supposed to support the average cost of living then what is?

Most retail, food service, janitorial, etc jobs are minimum wage or less (servers/bartenders usually make less than 30% of minimum wage and the rest is made up in tips....hopefully). That is a lot of people. Millions of people have to survive on minimum wage in the US. Almost everyone working in a mall is making minimum wage. If they aren't supposed to be able to support themselves on this, exactly how are they supposed to do this?

Like I said before minimum wage isn't supposed to equate living wage, at least in certain areas.

Going back to my I Love Lucy analogy: Lucy got a minimum-wage/entry-level/no-skills job at the chocolate factory as a hobby, and that's what minimum wage positions should be- for hobby. They are designed for high-school students. maybe retired people etc... They aren't meant to support a household in e.g. Upper East Side Manhattan. To say Lucy should be able to support her household in Upper East Side Manhattan on her chocolate factory is communism...

This was actually my statement. I said it to make the point that this one line almost invalidates an otherwise admirable article.

But, those are also very good points. I have been repeatedly shocked by the level of misinformation people have about reproduction and contraception in this day and age.

Yeah, this is the problem with having a minimum wage. Companies don't use it just for part-timers or just for really low skilled jobs.....they use it for any low level position, even those that require previous experience, or carry some responsiblity (handling cash registers, customer service, etc).

I'm not sure how companies have been handling the scaling of wages as minimum wage has increased. When I worked at cafes we made $1.50 more than minimum wage, but is that still happening as the minimum increases?

Like I said before minimum wage isn't supposed to equate living wage, at least in certain areas.

Going back to my I Love Lucy analogy: Lucy got a minimum-wage/entry-level/no-skills job at the chocolate factory as a hobby, and that's what minimum wage positions should be- for hobby. They are designed for high-school students, retired people etc... They aren't meant to support a household in e.g. Upper East Side Manhattan. To say Lucy should be able to support her household in Upper East Side Manhattan on her chocolate factory is communism...

We have free daycare centers in highschools? Though some Highschools are more like daycare centers for teens lol...

We have free daycare centers in highschools? Though some Highschools are more like daycare centers for teens lol...

Yes. Each state/district has different rules surrounding it but there have been daycares at high schools since the 1980's.

High School Day Cares: Helping Teen Moms Graduate

My point, and perhaps slanted because I lived all my life in CA, min wage was fine all these years. You can live in a variety of places easily because CA provides so much housing assistance and county/municipal aid....

This is government subsidizing low wage paying businesses.

So are well over 1/2 the food stamps given out.

The money to do this comes from YOUR taxes.

By raising the minimum wage CA increases its tax revenue and reduces its, and the federal government's, expenditures to keep the working poor afloat.

Looks like a win / win / win to me.

This is government subsidizing low wage paying businesses.

So are well over 1/2 the food stamps given out.

The money to do this comes from YOUR taxes.

By raising the minimum wage CA increases its tax revenue and reduces its, and the federal government's, expenditures to keep the working poor afloat.

Looks like a win / win / win to me.

Looks like a win / win / win to me.

SF and LA which boast the highest poverty rates in the state have some of the highest median. Because our "poor" aren't really poor compared to the rest of the nation. Those 40k and less counties are very low cost of living in talking 400 to 600/mo for a 1 bedroom.