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

Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday sent the Legislature a proposal to boost the state's minimum wage, defending the idea of $15 hourly pay as one that furthers economic equality and one that he hopes other states will follow.

“I'm hoping that what happens in California will not stay in California, but spread all across the country,” Brown said a news conference at the state Capitol, surrounded by Democrats and labor union leaders. “It's a matter of economic justice. It makes sense.”

The governor's plan, crafted through weeks of private negotiations among a small group of lawmakers and labor officials, increases the current $10 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.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) said 5.6 million people, or one in three California workers, would get a raise. The measure, which is expected to win approval in both chambers of the Democratic-controlled Legislature, would not change any local laws providing for higher wages, such as those in the city of Los Angeles and L.A. County.

The agreement, first reported by The Times on Saturday, would reinforce California's position as having the highest minimum wage of any state. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and was last increased in 2009. States can exceed the federal minimum but cannot go below it. - Read More at the latimes

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