Minimum wage hike
Newly elected Assemblyman Luis Alejo has introduced a bill, seeking to raise the minimum wage and tie it to annual revisions based on the California Consumer Price Index. The bill specifies that the wage can only adjust upward, beginning in 2010 with an increase to $8.50 per hour, and will face its first hearing in the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee in the spring. The California Restaurant Association is opposed to the effort as California continues to wrestle with unprecedented unemployment rates.