(May 28, 2004) The California Chamber-opposed bill to increase the state’s minimum wage was passed by the Assembly earlier this week.
Chamber-opposed AB 2832 (Lieber; D-Mountain View) requires the state minimum wage of $6.75 per hour to increase to $7.25 per hour in 2005, and then to $7.75 per hour in 2006, giving California the highest minimum wage in the country and providing a disincentive for businesses to bring new jobs to California.
'California currently has the nation's highest energy costs and unemployment insurance tax rates,' said Julianne Broyles, director of employee relations and small business. 'An increase to the minimum wage would be another cost driver forcing more employers out of the state. '
Many other business costs also are directly affected by mandated wage increases, such as workers’ compensation and health care premiums, along with other employment-related taxes. All of these costs increase whenever payroll costs increase.
Instead of working to make California less competitive by mandating that the state minimum wage rate be the highest in the nation, as proposed by AB 2832, the Chamber believes the focus should be on removing the barriers to productivity and wage growth that government has imposed on the private sector.
Positive actions can include reducing costs associated with providing benefits such as health, unemployment insurance; increasing opportunities for small business formation; increasing the skills of the current and future workforce; enacting significant regulatory reform; and doing no more harm and resisting new efforts to increase either employment costs or business liability in California.
The Chamber believes that this legislation would have a negative effect on the state’s economic reinvigoration and ability to attract new employers and jobs.
Key Vote:
AB 2832 passed the Assembly on a largely party-line vote (45-30) and will now move to the Senate.
Voting Aye:Berg (D-Eureka), Calderon (D-Montebello), Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg), Chan (D-Oakland), Chavez (D-La Puente), Chu (D-Monterey Park), Cohn (D-Sarasota), Corbett (D-San Leandro), Correa (D-Santa Ana), Diaz (D-San Jose), Dutra (D-Fremont), Dymally (D-Compton), Firebaugh (D-South Gate), Frommer (D-Glendale), Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), Hancock (D-Berkeley), J. Horton D-Inglewood), Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), Kehoe (D-San Diego), Koretz (D-West Hollywood), Laird (D-Santa Cruz), Leno (D-San Francisco), Levine (D-Van Nuys), Lieber (D-Mountain View), Liu (D-La Canada/Flintridge), Longville (D-San Bernardino), Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), Montanez (D-San Francisco), Mullin (D-South San Francisco), Nakano (D-Torrance), Nation (D-San Rafael), Negrete McLeod (D-Chino), Oropeza (D-Long Beach), Parra (D-Hanford), Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), Reyes (D-Fresno), Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), Salinas (D-Salinas), Simitian (D-Palo Alto), Steinberg (D-Sacramento), Vargas (D-San Diego), Wesson (D-Los Angeles/Culver City), Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), Wolk (D-Davis), Yee (D-San Francisco), Nunez (D-Los Angeles).
Voting No: Aghazarian (R-Stockton), Bates (Laguna Nigel), Benoit (R-Riverside), Bogh (R-Cherry Valley), Campbell (R-Irvine), Cogdill (R-Modesto), Cox R-Fair Oaks), Daucher (R-Brea), Dutton (R-Rancho Cucamonga), Garcia (R-Cathedral City), Harman (R-Huntington Beach), Haynes (R-Murietta), S. Horton (R-Chula Vista), Houston (R-Livermore), Keene (R-Chico), La Suer (R-La Mesa), Leslie (R-Roseville), Maddox (R-Costa Mesa), Matthews (D-Tracy), Maze (R-Visalia), McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), Mountjoy (Monrovia), Nakanishi (R-Lodi, Pacheco (R-Walnut), Plescia (R-San Diego), Richman (R-Northridge), Samuelian (R-Clovis), Spitzer (R-Orange), Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), Wyland (R-Del Mar).
Abstaining: Bermudez (D-Norwalk), La Malfa (R-Biggs), Maldanado (R-Santa Maria), Runner (R-Lancaster).
Staff Contact: Julianne Broyles