California Dem Senate candidate wants to raise minimum wage to $50 per hour

On Monday evening, a debate was hosted in the race to replace the late California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s seat. One of those candidates, Democrat Rep. Barbara Lee, defended her argument that the minimum wage in the state needs to be raised to $50 per hour.

The moderator noted that this increase is around seven times the federal minimum wage of $7.25. On January 1, California’s minimum wage rose to $16 per hour.

Lee said that she owned and ran a small business for 11 years, adding that "I know what worker productivity means and that means you have to make sure that your employees are taken care of and have a living wage."

Lee noted a recent report that stated in the Bay area "$127,000 for a family of four is just barely enough to get by. Another survey very recently, $104,000 for a family of one, barely enough to get by, low income because of the affordability crisis."

"Just do the math. Of course we have national minimum wages that we need to raise to a living wage," Lee said. "We’re talking about $20, $25 – fine. But I have got to be focused on what California needs and what the affordability factor is when we calculate this wage."

At a candidate forum held by the National Union of Healthcare Workers in October, Lee was asked what the federal minimum wage should be put at, to which she responded "$50 an hour," which was met with cheers from the audience.