Santa Clara County staff are looking into a possible increase in the local minimum wage for those who work in unincorporated areas, in order to decrease residents’ reliance on government assistance and create a “level playing field” with nearby communities.
The current state of California minimum wage, which is currently the minimum in unincorporated County areas, is $8 per hour – “not a fair minimum wage because people cannot afford the bare minimum they need to survive without relying on public assistance,” according to a report by Supervisor Dave Cortese that was presented to a meeting of the Board of Supervisors’ Finance and Government Operations Committee meeting May 28.
Voters in the City of San Jose approved a $10 per hour minimum wage in November 2012, and San Francisco’s minimum wage is $10.52 per hour, according to the report. There are also efforts to increase the citywide minimum wages in the Bay Area Cities of Berkeley and Oakland.
“By extending the minimum wage increase to the unincorporated parts of the County, the Board recognizes that working people in Silicon Valley should not be forced to go on government assistance if they work 40 hours a week,” Cortese’s report says.
Doing so would also create a “level playing” field with other cities, especially San Jose which surrounds “unincorporated pockets” of the County, the report says.
The committee voted to ask the County Executive and County Counsel to study the different possibilities for raising the local minimum wage, requesting a report back by Aug. 8, according to County staff.
Supervisor Mike Wasserman, who represents District 1 on the board which includes South County, said he worries about the potential impact of a higher minimum wage on certain sectors of the economy.
“I’m concerned about how an increase in the minimum wage would affect agriculture and small businesses,” Wasserman said. “My goal is to attract and retain higher-paying jobs to the region, so workers will earn higher wages.”
Cortese’s report does not indicate how many residents or businesses would be impacted by an increase. Nor does it say if the board would have the authority to approve a local minimum wage hike on its own, or if the County would have to go to the voters.
Cortese represents District 3 on the board, which includes unincorporated areas north and east of San Jose.
