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Long Beach City Council Votes To Raise Minimum Wage To $13 By 2019

LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — The Long Beach City Council has voted to raise the minimum wage in the city to $13 an hour by 2019.

The council voted 6 to 2 early Wednesday for a plan that would raise the minimum wage to $10.50 by Jan. 1, 2017, $12 the following year and $13 by 2019.

The council also voted – again 6-2 – to commission a study to assess the impacts of a new minimum wage on the economy. If the study finds the city's wage law to have had salutary effects, Long Beach's minimum wage would rise to $14 in 2020 and to $15 in 2021.

Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal, who has advocated a Long Beach-specific wage law, crafted the motion to create a schedule for annual minimum wage increases.

The motion approved Wednesday gives nonprofits and businesses with 25 or fewer employees a one-year delay on each of the scheduled minimum wage increases.

And from 2023 on, minimum wage increases would be indexed to inflation within the Greater Los Angeles area.

(©2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

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