Senate Bill 3 to Raise California Minimum Wage Has Died – For Now

Topics: New Laws & Legislation, Wage & Hour Issues

State Senator Mark Leno’s attempt to further increase the California minimum wage starting on January 1, will not be successful.  Currently, California’s minimum wage is $9.00 an hour.  It is currently slated for an 11.1 percent increase at the end of this year, when it will move to $10.00 an hour.  Earlier in this legislative session, San Francisco based Senator Mark Leno introduced Senate Bill 3, which if successful would have raised the minimum wage to at least $11.00 an hour at the end of this year (effective January 1, 2016) and at least $13 an hour on July 1, 2017.  These would be major increases and would have applied broadly to all California employers.  In addition, the bill would have required automatic raises to the minimum wage tied to the cost of living after 2017.     

In June, the California State Senate passed the bill by a 23 to 15 vote.  The bill was moving forward in the Assembly until yesterday, when it stalled at the Assembly Appropriations Committee, after discussions.  As a result of yesterday’s development, it is highly unlikely that there will be any legislative changes to the state minimum wage in this session.  Therefore, the only statewide increase will be the change on January 1, when the minimum hourly wage goes to $10 an hour.  However, many municipalities in California have already passed their own minimum wage legislation (San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Emeryville), with much higher requirements.  In addition, other cities are currently debating whether or not to enact their own minimum wages (Sacramento, Santa Monica, West Hollywood) and we expect more action on the municipal level in this area. 

We will continue to keep you abreast of all key developments on minimum wage issues in California.