Deal reportedly reached to increase California's minimum wage to $15

Protesters call for a minimum wage of $15 an hour.

(Image credit: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)

published 28 March 2016

A tentative deal has been reached between California lawmakers and labor unions over raising the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour.

Sources confirmed the deal to the Los Angeles Times on Saturday, and said Gov. Jerry Brown (D) could announce it as early as Monday. Polling in the state suggests that if a minimum wage proposal appeared on a ballot, voters would approve it, and having lawmakers vote on it would save money.

A document viewed by the Times shows that starting on Jan. 1, 2017, the minimum wage would get a boost from $10 to $10.50, followed by another 50 cent increase in 2018, then $1 a year through 2022. Companies that employ fewer than 25 people would have one additional year to reach $15 an hour. Any future increases to minimum wage in the state would be linked to inflation, with the governor having the ability to temporarily put a hold on the increase in case of economic troubles.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.