LOS ANGELES (CNS) — A UC Berkeley study of a proposal to raise the minimum wage in Los Angeles is expected to be released ahead of four public hearings on the issue being hosted over the next month by a City Council committee.
The study was commissioned by the city to look into the economic effects of raising the minimum wage from $9 an hour to $13.25 an hour by 2017, to $15.25 an hour by 2019, and higher in subsequent years based on the Consumer Price Index.
City officials had expected to receive the study by March 16, but the analysis is now expected later in the week.
Separate studies commissioned by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, representing the local business community, and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, which represents unions, are also expected to be released this week.
Berkeley’s Institute for Research on Labor and Employment also prepared the study for Seattle’s minimum wage hike plan, and worked on a economic study that Mayor Eric Garcetti released last September as he announced his proposal for raising the wage to $13.25 per hour.
Some business leaders opposing the wage hike plan — which they argue could lead to layoffs of workers or increase costs for products and services — have criticized the choice of UC Berkeley as the economic research firm for the proposal.
But some business groups say they are in support of the minimum wage hike plan, with Garcetti recently touting the Los Angeles Business Council’s endorsement.
The council’s Economic Development Committee will hold hearings to review the results of the economic studies at:
— 1 p.m. March 24 at City Hall, 200 N. Spring St.;
— 6 p.m. March 26 at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee headquarters, 10950 S. Central Ave.;
— 6 p.m. March 31 at Van Nuys City Hall, 6262 Van Nuys Blvd.; and
— 6 p.m. April 2 at the Museum of Tolerance, 9786 W. Pico Blvd.