- In Monday night’s debate, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) defended her previous push for a $50 minimum wage.
- “In the Bay Area, I think it was the United Way that just recently put out a report that says a family of four can barely live on $127,000,” Lee said.
- Other candidates also opposed it during the debate.
The minimum wage is a hot topic, especially in California, which has one of the highest minimum wages in the nation.
In Monday night’s debate, Rep. Barbara Lee (D) defended her previous push for a $50 minimum wage.
“In the Bay Area, I think it was the United Way that just recently put out a report that says a family of four can barely live on $127,000,” Lee said. “Another very recent study put it at $104,000, an amount that a one-person family could barely survive on on low incomes due to the price crisis.”
At $50 an hour, your wages total $104,000 in one year.
“Just do the math. Of course there’s a national minimum wage, and we need to raise that to a living wage,” Lee said. “We’re talking about $20 or $25, which is fine. But I’m concerned about what California needs and what the affordability factors are when calculating this wage. We have to focus.”
Republican Steve Garvey said he is not in favor of changing the minimum wage.
“Again, the minimum wage is what it is and should be,” Garvey said. “If you look at what California is doing now with fast food franchises, they’re raising the minimum wage to $20. So what’s going to happen? Then hard-working Californians go to franchises. This will result in increased costs.”
Previously, Schiff and Porter suggested a more cautious approach.
At the last debate in January, Porter proposed that the minimum wage should be around $20 nationally and around $25 in California.
In the same debate, Mr. Schiff proposed a national minimum wage of $25.
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