Today if you are driving around the sleepy town of San Luis Obispo, you may hear an ad on the 
radio that concerns you. You’ll hear that one of your local officials, State Senator Abel Maldonado, has introduced a job-killing state mandate to employers, requiring them to raise employee salaries.
You probably would shake your head, since all of the things you have read about your Senator make it sound like this is the last thing he would do.
Nevetheless, Republican Senator Abel Maldonado has introduced legislation to increase the state’s minimum wage by a dollar, and the California Republican Assembly is calling him on it. Starting today, the CRA has purchased radio ads on four stations throughout Maldonado’s sprawling Central Coast District.
How all of this plays out in Maldonado’s bid for State Controller is not certain. But it is certainly controversial to reach over to the platform of the State Democrat Party for a major piece of his 
legislative agenda. This is very, very poor public policy. While ‘higher salaries’ sound good, and are popular with the electorate, a look beyond the ‘feel good sound’ of the proposal is the negative impacts of the mandate.
The radio ad, and a press release from the CRA are attached, and also available (along with an online petition) on the CRA website.
Hopefully Senator Maldonado will reconsider this bill, and pull it from consideration.
February 6th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I’ve had a number of people comment to me that they feel that Maldonado is not a big fan of this increase in the minimum wage, but that he is carrying the legislation at the behest of the Governor.
Furthermore, they are saying that the Governor is pushing this legislation for a one dollar increase in order to head off momentum from the left to have an even larger increase, and index the minimum wage so that it is constantly increasing without specific legislation to raise it.
I don’t know that these are “excuses” for putting a Republican label on a minimum wage increase. But, thought I would share.
February 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am
It won’t hurt Madonado’s cause to appeal to Latino Dems who support a minimum wage increase. When he first ran he was a “pro lifer” From the trenches in re qualifiying Prop 73, I’m not so sure he’s pro life. He’s pro Latino that’s for sure.
February 7th, 2006 at 12:00 am
It won’t hurt Madonado’s cause to appeal to Latino Dems who support a minimum wage increase. When he first ran he was a “pro lifer” From the trenches in re qualifiying Prop 73, I’m not so sure he’s pro life. He’s pro Latino that’s for sure.