A multi-candidate debate for a vacant Senate seat in California Monday night included a question about raising the minimum wage to $50, with one Democratic candidate floating the idea.
“In the Bay Area, I think it was the United Way that just recently put out a report saying $127,000 is barely enough to live on for a family of four,” said Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee, a former party supporter. When asked to defend it, he said: Make the minimum wage $50 and explain how it is “sustainable.”
“Another very recent study put it at $104,000. That’s barely enough to get by for a one-person family, with low incomes due to the affordability crisis.”
Lee is called before If the minimum wage is $50, your annual income will be approximately $104,000. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. range from In California, it’s $16 to $20.
Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee (Fox News Digital)
“Do the math. Of course we have a national minimum wage and we need to raise it to a living wage,” Lee continued. “We’re talking about $20 or $25, which is fine. But when we calculate this wage, we focus on what California needs and what the affordability factors are. You have to guess.”
The only Republican on stage, former baseball star Steve Garvey, told the host that the minimum wage “is what it should be and should be.”
“If you look at what California is doing now with fast food franchises, raising the minimum wage to $20, what’s going to happen next?” Garvey said. “This would increase the cost for a hard-working Californian to go buy a $9 Big Mac from a franchise store and turn it into $15.”
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Congressman Adam Schiff speaks at the “Just Majority” Burbank press conference on May 26, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Jerrod Harris/Getty Images, Demand Justice)
Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff took issue with Garvey’s comments, saying so many people live on the streets because they are paid “poverty wages.”
“Try to find a home somewhere in California while making minimum wage,” Schiff told Garvey. “We have to increase people’s incomes.”
Some Republicans want to raise the federal minimum wage, but only to verifiable American citizens.
Republican California State Senate Candidate Steve Garvey (Steve Garvey)
Schiff and fellow Democratic candidate Katie Porter have expressed support for a minimum wage in the range of $20 to $25 an hour.
Last fall, California passed a bill mandating $20 an hour. minimum wage All restaurants with at least 60 locations nationwide are eligible, but the law includes an exception for restaurants that make and sell their own bread.
Several major fast-food franchises, including McDonald’s and Chipotle, have already indicated they will need to raise prices in response to rising labor costs.
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As companies consider passing costs on to consumers, Andy Wiederhorn, chairman of Fat Brands, recently described rising wages as “someone’s got to pay.”
“Consumer voters should have known what they were getting into by pushing this bill to raise the minimum wage from $15 to $20 and then to $25.” Derhorn told FOX Business earlier this month.
“Everyone wants their employees to earn more, but it just costs money. And someone has to pay for it. And restaurateurs don’t have the margin for that. .So prices will go up.”
U.S. Representative Katie Porter speaks as U.S. President Joe Biden attends an event on reducing costs for American families at Irvine Valley Community College on October 14, 2022 in Irvine, California, United States. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
2021 Harvard Business Review Survey We found that raising the minimum wage actually led to lower employee compensation.
In addition to companies being forced to raise prices, many economists have warned that companies will be forced to cut staff, which often disproportionately hits low-wage earners, making them the very lowest earners. Wage hike advocacy groups are aiming to help.
“Minimum wage advocates have always argued that raising the minimum wage helps low-income workers and has no negative impact,” said E. J. Antoni, regional economics researcher at the Heritage Foundation Data Analysis Center. Stated. told FOX Business Regarding last year’s minimum wage increase.
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“They often cite corporate greed as the only reason wages are relatively low in places like the fast food industry. In reality, raising the minimum wage reduces employment and passes higher labor costs on to customers. “Because the minimum wage is low,” earning workers disproportionately buy fast food (such as McDonald’s), paying not only for more expensive labor but also for lower employment levels. Costs are also borne disproportionately. ”
Antoni continued, “This fact exposes the reality that the true minimum wage is, and always has been, zero. Workers who lose their jobs as a result of minimum wage hikes have no income and food prices have declined. It’s going to go up in price,” he continued.
Fox News Digital’s Madeline Coggins contributed to this report
