Monday, the state legislature in California came to a compromise that would raise the minimum wage state wide to $15 per hour by 2022. This is a major milestone in that it is the largest increase in dollars and percent in eons. The new minimum wage will be phased in over a five year period beginning Jan 2017. Small Businesses will have an additional year to comply. All this follows a year of certain California cities and a handful of municipalities across the country that have taken the initiative to raise their own minimum wages.

It is unlikely that the US House or Senate will stomach such a large change but it does put even more pressure on Congress to make some type of change to the US national minimum wage. Currently the wage is at $7.25. A wage of $15 more than doubles the National Minimum Wage but several states and cities already have a minimum wage that is higher than that.

DSF