Bill Text: CA SB352 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: California Workforce Development Board: minimum wage and housing.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB352 Detail]
Download: California-2023-SB352-Amended.html
|
Amended
IN
Senate
March 29, 2023 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION
Senate Bill
No. 352
| Introduced by Senator Padilla |
February 08, 2023 |
An act to add Section 14018 to the Unemployment Insurance Code, relating to wages.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 352, as amended, Padilla.
California Workforce Development Board: minimum wage and housing.
The California Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act makes workforce investment programs and services available to individuals with employment barriers. The act establishes the California Workforce Development Board as the body responsible for assisting the Governor in the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California’s workforce investment system and the alignment of the education and workforce investment systems to the needs of the 21st century economy and workforce.
Existing law establishes within the Department of Industrial Relations, the Industrial Welfare Commission, and requires the minimum wage for employees fixed by the commission or by any applicable state or local law to be paid to employees.
This bill would require the California Workforce Development Board, in
conjunction with the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development and the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, to examine housing costs by county county, regionally, and in the state and create a formula to ascertain how much the local minimum wage must be for a household with at least one full-time minimum wage worker
must earn to reasonably afford a decent standard of living, including appropriate housing and basic expenses
expenses, including nonhousing necessities, in that county. county, regionally, and in the state. The bill, commencing in 2024, would also require the California Workforce Development Board to recommend to the Legislature by December 15 of each year the minimum wage for a full-time minimum household with at least one full-time minimum wage earner to afford a decent standard of living, including appropriate housing
and basic expenses, including nonhousing necessities, in each county county, regionally, and in the state and recommend a method to annually adjust figures to account for housing cost inflation and inflation broadly.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 14018 is added to the Unemployment Insurance Code, to read:14018.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:(1) Currently, a household with at least one full-time minimum wage earner would have to work more than two full-time jobs to afford a one-bedroom apartment in most major markets in California.
(2) Nearly all households with at least one full-time minimum wage earners
earner fall below the poverty line and that number of low-wagers earners is growing. Households of all races struggle, but poverty is highest for Latino and Black families. Currently over 1.7 million Latino households (or 52 percent of all Latino households) are estimated to not earn enough to get by, compared to over 1.06 million white households (21 percent), 481,618 Asian American households (28 percent), 259,516 Black households (41 percent), and 13,592 Native American and Alaska Native households (39 percent).
(3) Clearly, the lack of affordable housing for full-time minimum earners is fueling rising homelessness and dependence upon limited public services.
(4) It is the intent of the Legislature that full-time workers earn a living
wage that enables them to afford appropriate housing and basic expenses for themselves and their minor dependents.
(b) The California Workforce Development Board shall, in conjunction with the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development and the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, examine housing costs by county county, regionally, and
in the state and create a formula to ascertain how much the local
minimum wage must be for a full-time worker
a household with at least one full-time minimum wage worker must earn
to reasonably afford a decent standard of living, including appropriate housing and basic expenses expenses, including nonhousing necessities, in that county. county, regionally, and in the state. In developing this formula, the board, Secretary, and Director shall do all of the following:
(1) Take into account relevant housing cost data, such as Fair
Market Rent estimates from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the cost of other basic expenses, including nonhousing necessities.
(2) (A) Develop a framework for determining an adequate number of bedrooms for different household configurations to use in factoring housing costs, such as one bedroom for one worker, or two bedrooms for two or more workers.
(B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the board, in conjunction with the Secretary and Director, shall consult with relevant state departments, agencies, and bona fide research institutions regarding relevant data to determine costs of basic expenses, including nonhousing necessities, and appropriate housing for households.
(3) Ensure that relevant housing costs shall not exceed 30 percent of the calculated
wage.
(4) Assess whether a household with at least one full-time wage earner has sufficient income to cover appropriate housing, which shall not exceed 30 percent of their monthly earned income, and basic expenses, including nonhousing necessities.
(c) Commencing in 2024, the California Workforce Development Board shall, in conjunction and cooperation with the Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development and the Director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, recommend to the Legislature by December 15 of each year the minimum wage for a household with at least one full-time minimum
wage earner to afford a decent standard of living, including appropriate housing and basic expenses, including nonhousing necessities, in each county
county, regionally, and in the state and recommend a method to annually adjust figures to account for housing cost inflation and inflation broadly.
(d) For purposes of this section, “nonhousing necessities” means childcare for an average household with minor dependents, food, transportation, health care, allowance for basic miscellaneous expenses such as clothing, mobile telephone service and broadband access, and taxes.
