{"id":24312,"date":"2026-08-01T16:12:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24312"},"modified":"2026-08-01T16:12:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T11:12:26","slug":"newsom-boasts-of-californias-upcoming-minimum-wage-increase-criticizes-trump-for-ignoring-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=24312","title":{"rendered":"Newsom boasts of California\u2019s upcoming minimum wage increase, criticizes Trump for ignoring workers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/90754d9\/2147483647\/strip\/false\/crop\/3240x2160+0+0\/resize\/1500x1000!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff8%2Fad%2Fce61562247de93764f9f0416e6c8%2F20-minimum-wage-latt.png\" \/><\/p>\n<div data-element=\"story-body\" data-subscriber-content=\"\">\n<p>California\u2019s statewide minimum wage is set to rise next year.<\/p>\n<p>Starting on Jan. 1, 2027, the statewide minimum wage will rise to $17.40 an hour, an increase Gov. Gavin Newsom boasted about on Friday.<\/p>\n<p>Newsom \u2014 who has been eyeing a 2028 presidential run \u2014 said in a statement that California\u2019s fiscal policies helped turn the state into \u201cone of the strongest economies in the world\u201d while the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress fail to address \u201ceveryday cost pressures for working families.\u201d The federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 per hour since 2009.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor years, Donald Trump and Republicans have blocked efforts to raise the federal minimum wage while handing tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations,\u201d Newsom said. \u201cCalifornia has chosen a different path \u2014 one that rewards work, grows the economy, and puts working families first.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Not everyone agreed. Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton took to social media on Friday to decry the minimum wage increase as an \u201cattack on workers\u201d that will \u201ccrush small businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The current minimum wage in California for all employers is $16.90 an hour, though some workers must be paid more to comply with city and county rules and other state laws.<\/p>\n<p>California\u2019s minimum wage automatically increases each year to keep pace with inflation. The current system was established in 2016, when then-Gov. Jerry Brown <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/86436773-132.html\"><u>signed<\/u><\/a> into law a <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/nation\/la-na-minimum-wage-life-20160405-story.html\"><u>first-in-<\/u><u>the-<\/u><u>nation<\/u><\/a> plan to gradually boost the state\u2019s hourly minimum wage to $15 an hour, then adjust the wage annually based on inflation starting in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is about economic justice, it\u2019s about people,\u201d <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.gov.ca.gov\/archive\/gov39\/2016\/04\/04\/news19368\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\"><u>Brown<\/u><\/a> said during the bill signing.<\/p>\n<p>The specific amount of the minimum wage increase is tied to inflation \u2014 as measured by the federal consumer price index \u2014 and capped at 3.5%, according to state law. The state director of finance is responsible for calculating the adjusted minimum wage on or before Aug. 1 each year.<\/p>\n<p>California has the highest minimum wage out of all 50 states, according to the governor\u2019s office. (Only Washington, D.C.\u2019s, minimum wage ranks <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/does.dc.gov\/service\/office-wage-hour-compliance-0\" target=\"_blank\"><u>higher<\/u><\/a>, at $18.40.) <\/p>\n<p>The state in 2024 raised <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2024-04-01\/la-me-fast-food-california-guide\">minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour.<\/a> The fast-food wage requirement applies to chains with more than 60 locations nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Researchers have been <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/calmatters.org\/commentary\/2025\/02\/fast-food-minimum-wage-studies\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u>split <\/u><\/a>on the economic impacts of the pay increase for fast-food workers, which chains like <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/story\/2024-06-12\/the-fast-food-industry-claims-the-california-minimum-wage-law-is-costing-jobs-its-numbers-are-fake\">Pizza Hut and Cinnabon<\/a> have fought. (Earlier this year, a major <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/business\/story\/2026-05-18\/drama-inside-carls-jr-crushed-by-california-costs-crime-competition\"><u>Carl\u2019s Jr. franchisee<\/u><\/a> cited the $20 fast-food minimum wage when he applied for bankruptcy protection.)<\/p>\n<p>California also has higher minimum wages for <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2023-10-13\/california-healthcare-workers-to-get-25-an-hour-after-newsom-approves-new-minimum-wage\"><u>healthcare workers<\/u><\/a> at large facilities as a result of a union-backed bill Newsom signed in 2023. Under the legislation, many healthcare workers\u2019 minimum wages in <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dir.ca.gov\/t8\/11000_2.html\" target=\"_blank\"><u>July<\/u><\/a> rose from $24 an hour to $25 an hour.<\/p>\n<p>Some cities in California, including Emeryville and West Hollywood, have opted to impose even higher city minimum wages exceeding $20 per hour.<\/p>\n<p>Most states have minimum wages above the federal minimum. Five Republican-led states \u2014 Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee \u2014 do not have an independent state minimum wage and default to the federal minimum.<\/p>\n<p>While a 2019 Pew Research Center <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2019\/07\/30\/two-thirds-of-americans-favor-raising-federal-minimum-wage-to-15-an-hour\/\" target=\"_blank\"><u>poll<\/u><\/a> found that two-thirds of Americans support raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, a deep partisan split over the issue remains.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>California\u2019s statewide minimum wage is set to rise next year. Starting on Jan. 1, 2027, the statewide minimum wage will rise to $17.40 an hour, an increase Gov. Gavin Newsom boasted about on Friday. Newsom \u2014 who has been eyeing a 2028 presidential run \u2014 said in a statement that California\u2019s fiscal policies helped turn&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/11a5718\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3240x1701+0+230\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff8%2Fad%2Fce61562247de93764f9f0416e6c8%2F20-minimum-wage-latt.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}