Hell Freezes Over: California Conservative Launches Initiative to Raise Minimum Wage to $12 [View all]

[Addison]

By Doug Porter, San Diego Free Press

Earlier this year California Gov. Jerry Brown signed off on legislation to increase the minimum wage. The measure would raise the current $8 minimum wage to $9 an hour next July 1 and to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016. The 25% increase will be the first minimum-wage hike in California in five years, affecting an estimated 2.4 million Californians.

Golden State business interests and their conservative allies railed against the measure. The LA Times quoted the president of the California Restaurant Association, saying the 87,000 eateries in the state would be forced to cut back employee hours and reduce hiring. The California Chamber of Commerce labeled AB10 “a job killer.”

The conservative CalWatchdog.com predicted that 68,000 jobs would be lost over the coming decade and a “reduction in real output of $5.7 billion”, citing the Koch brothers sponsored National Federation of Independent Business.

Today’s New York Times reports that California conservative activist and millionaire Ron Unz is filing ballot language with the secretary of state , declaring his intention to gather enough signatures to place it on the ballot in 2014.

Ron Unz, a Silicon Valley millionaire, rose to fame by promoting a ballot initiative that essentially eliminated bilingual education in California. He went on to become publisher of The American Conservative, a libertarian-leaning magazine.

But after decades in the conservative movement, Mr. Unz is pursuing a goal that has stymied liberals: raising the minimum wage. He plans to pour his own money into a ballot measure to increase the minimum wage in California to $10 an hour in 2015 and $12 in 2016, which would make it by far the highest in the nation. Currently, it is $8 — 75 cents higher than the federal minimum.

Using what he sees as conservative principles to advocate a policy long championed by the left, Mr. Unz argues that significantly raising the minimum wage would help curb government spending on social services, strengthen the economy and make more jobs attractive to American-born workers.

Public support for an increase in the minimum wage is very strong, with 76% or respondents in a poll earlier this month supporting an increase in the federal rate from $7.25 to $9.00 per hour. Various proposals in Congress aimed at increasing the minimum wage are, like most other significant legislation, mired in gridlock.

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http://sandiegofreepress.org/2013/11/hell-freezes-over-california-conservative-launches-initiative-to-raise-minimum-wage-to-12/