Legislation that would establish the nation's first minimum wage for health care workers advanced in the California State Assembly this week over the objections of an unusual alliance of providers, hospitals and a big nurses union.

Driving the news: The Labor and Employment Committee on Wednesday approved the bill, sending it next to the Appropriations Committee and giving it momentum headed into the August recess.

• The state senate already approved the plan — which would set an inflation-adjusted rate of $25 an hour by 2025 — last month.

Why it matters: The plan backed by SEIU California would primarily benefit workers in home health, skilled nursing facilities and outpatient clinics, a brief from the UC Berkeley Labor Center shows. It would also apply to contractors who offer food, environmental or landscaping services at health care facilities.

Yes, but: The California Nurses Association opposes the legislation unless RNs are exempted, because most nurses already make much more than $25 an hour and that the benchmark could erode their wage floor.

• Efforts to get a similar $25 minimum wage for health workers on local ballots last year were opposed by providers including Kaiser Permanente of Northern California, Adventist Health, Cedars-Sinai, Dignity Health, and other hospitals and health systems, warned it would drive up their costs, per California Healthline.
• California now has a $15.50 statewide minimum wage, though some localities go higher.
• One California city,...

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