LOS ANGELES—On Wednesday, June 10 the Los Angeles City Council approved the raising of minimum wage to $15 per hour.
The main argument made for raising the minimum wage is that it is impossible for anyone to live in Los Angeles on only $9 per hour, and that city residents are struggling to afford to take care of their families because the cost of living is too high compared to wages.
The Los Angeles City Council approved the raise with a vote of 12-1; the only one to vote against the increased wage law was Councilman Mitchell Englander. The bill still awaits final approval by Mayor Eric Garcetti, but he is expected to sign off on the bill. This is the second vote that had to be conducted by the city council because the first was not unanimous and it could not go ahead without majority approval.
The wage increase will be implemented steadily until 2020, which is when it will finally reach the full $15. By July of next year the minimum wage will be increased to $10.50 per hour and by 2017 it will be $12. This will continue in increments until the $15 is reached in 2020.
Another clause to the new minimum wage increase is that if a business has less than 26 employees then the wage increase will experience a one year delay. The $15 goal for those in small businesses will not be reached until 2021, instead of 2020.
