Sacramento may soon join the growing number of cities in California and elsewhere boosting minimum wages for employers higher than those required by the state or federal government.
Mayor Kevin Johnson on Tuesday formally launched a task force of business, community and labor leaders that will study possible minimum wage increases and report back to the City Council. The 15-person group will hold the first of five scheduled public meetings Wednesday at City Hall.
“The task force will determine what makes most sense so that working adults can earn enough to support their families and make their way into the middle class and that small businesses can continue to grow and prosper,” Johnson said in a news release. “Every Sacramentan should feel that if they work hard and play by the rules, they can succeed.”
Johnson chose two advocates for better wages as co-chairs of the city committee: City Councilman Jay Schenirer and Elizabeth Landsberg of Western Center on Law & Poverty. Landsberg’s group is co-sponsoring the proposal to increase the state minimum wage to $13.
