California lawmakers clashed sharply during a Senate debate over how much to raise the federal minimum wage in response to the nation's affordability crisis.
The most dramatic argument so far in the Feb. 12 debate came from Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee, who wants to see the federal minimum wage raised to $50 an hour.
That's nearly seven times the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and more than three times California's minimum wage of $16 an hour.
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“I know what worker productivity means,” Lee said. She once ran a small business for 11 years before turning her talents into politics. “That means we need to take care of our employees and ensure they have a living wage.”
She cited a United Way report that says a family of four in the San Francisco Bay Area needs $127,000 a year “just to survive.” (Moneywise also discovered her United Way Bay Area report for 2022, which said she needed $109,088 for a family of four to meet basic needs.)
“Just do some math,” she retorted to the naysayers. “We have a national minimum wage and we need to raise it to a living wage.”
analyze the numbers
At a $50 minimum wage, your total annual income would be about $104,000, but believe it or not, you still haven't reached the median income in some parts of the Golden State. not.
Lee cited 2023 data from the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which says people living alone in San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties with an annual income of $104,000 are considered eligible. low income Number of households in 2023.
The same three counties considered a single-person household income to be $65,250. very low incomethose making $39,150 were considered extremely low People who earn $18,400 a year suddenly low income.
The Senate candidate balked at the fact that in some parts of California, six-figure incomes are “barely getting by” and blamed it on an “affordability crisis.” .
San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin all rank among the top 10 most expensive counties in the U.S. to buy a home, according to the Zillow Home Value Index.
Rent prices are also rising in these areas. According to Zillow, the typical monthly asking rent in the San Francisco metropolitan area is $3,295, which is 65% higher than the national median. To afford it comfortably without spending more than 30% of his income on housing, an individual or household would need an income of about $10,983 per month, or about $131,796 per year.
In justifying his proposed $50 minimum wage, Lee said, “When we calculate this wage, we have to focus on what California needs and what the affordability factors are. No,” he said.
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minimum wage debate
Not all candidates vying to replace the late Dianne Feinstein in California's open Senate seat agree that such a dramatic minimum wage increase is necessary.
In fact, Republican Steve Garvey, former MLB star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres, argued that “minimum wage is what it is and should be.”
He spoke about the state's controversial new fast food law, which was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on September 28, 2023, and will increase wages for fast food workers to up to $20 an hour starting April 1, 2024. (AB 1228). That's $4 more than the Golden State's current minimum wage of $16.
“It would increase the cost for hard-working Californians to go franchise,” Garvey argued. “A $9 Big Mac is now $15.”
Rep. Adam Smith (D) said to applause. It's because we pay them poverty wages. Try to find a home somewhere in California while making minimum wage. ”
He added: “We have to increase people's incomes and we have to build more affordable housing and ground services for homeless people. We can do this. , demonstrated an effective approach.”
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