LA City Council Gets on Road to Minimum Wage Increase

LOS ANGELES — On May 19, the Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 to request that the city attorney prepare and present an ordinance that establishes a citywide minimum wage.

The provisions of the ordinance need would begin July 1, 2016 increasing annually from $10.50 in 2016 to $12 in 2017, $13.25 in 2018, $14.25 in 2019 and $15 in 2020.

Businesses with $25 or fewer employees would begin the new minimum wage schedule starting July 1, 2017. Nonprofits with 25 or fewer employee will also have the same modified schedule or may apply for a waiver through the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Contract Administration if their top executive earns less than eight times the wage of the lowest paid worker and if they serve transitional employees or are primarily funded by state or federal reimbursements that are more than 50 percent of their payroll.

“Today, help is on the way for the one million Angelenos who live in poverty,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti in a press release. ” I started this campaign to raise the minimum wage to create broader economic prosperity in our city and because the minimum wage should not be a poverty wage in Los Angeles.”

Rep. Janice Hahn agreed.

“With this vote, Los Angeles becomes a leader in the movement to pay fair wages, support our workers, and fight poverty,” she said. “Raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour helps ensure that no one who works hard at a full-time job lives on the brink of poverty.”