What is the Recent History of the Minimum Wage in California?
The minimum wage was increased by initiative in 1996 from $4.25 per hour to $5.75 per hour over a two-year period. The state’s Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) acted in 2000 to increase the minimum wage from $5.75 to $6.25, effective on January 1, 2001 and to $6.75 on January 1, 2002. The IWC has subsequently failed to raise the minimum wage, despite significant efforts by advocates. The Governor’s Reorganization Plan calls for the IWC to be absorbed into the Labor and Economic Development Agency. Last year, the Governor vetoed AB 2832 (Lieber) despite widespread public support for raising the minimum wage. The Minimum Wage is Failing to Retain Purchasing Power The high cost of living in California seriously erodes gains that we have made in providing a decent base level of compensation. In 1968, California’s minimum wage stood at $1.65 an hour. In 2003, the University of California estimated that, for the minimum wage to match the purchasing power it had in 1968, it would have to b
