On April 12, the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement passed Senate Bill 352.
Introduced by California Sen. Steve Padilla (D-San Diego), the bill aims to create a formula that calculates a real living wage necessary for a worker to afford basic housing in their region.
According to Padilla's website, although California has one of the nation’s highest minimum wages at $15.50 per hour, it has some of the nation’s highest poverty rates due to high living expenses, primarily driven by housing and child care costs. The current minimum wage, set by the Legislature in 2016, was rendered outdated faster than anticipated due to higher-than-expected inflation and rising housing demand.
“Full-time employment should always be enough to afford housing in your community,” Padilla said on his website. “It is vital that California gathers data that helps us understand how wage inequity impacts each region of the state differently. Insufficient wages are smothering our communities -- leaving entire sections of the state behind, as others enjoy greater prosperity than ever before. The data we collect will inform our efforts as we act to address crippling poverty that hurts the most vulnerable in our state.”
SB 352 will direct the California Workforce Development Board to develop a formula that calculates what wage workers would need to earn in order to afford basic housing by county, region and statewide. It is the first time the state would officially calculate wage needs to meet basic housing costs.
"Sen. Padilla's bill, SB 352, would assess what it actually costs individuals and families to afford appropriate housing and basic expenses,” said Peter Manzo, president and CEO of United Ways of California, according to Padilla's website. “Not only that, the bill would identify significant gaps between what it takes for families and their children to have a decent standard of living and what they actually earn. This should be the yardstick by which we set our priorities, and this bill would provide community and civic leaders, the business sector and public officials a vital tool to help families not just survive but actually thrive.”
TaShon Thomas, director of Public Policy at United Way Bay Area, agrees with the aim of Padilla's bill.
“The United Way believes strongly that you cannot program your way out of poverty,” Thomas said, according to Padilla's website. “There must be policy changes that align with those programs. SB 352 perfectly merges the need for data to impact future policy decisions with the ultimate goal of creating an equitable and prosperous California.”
The bill was passed by the Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement with a 4-1 vote on April 12 and now heads to the Senate Committee on Housing.
Padilla represents the 18th Senate District, which includes the communities of Chula Vista, Coachella, El Centro, Imperial Beach, National City and San Diego. Prior to his election in 2022, Padilla was the first person of color ever elected to city office in Chula Vista, the first Latino mayor and the first openly LGBT person to serve or be elected to city office.