The city of Sacramento is in the early stages of considering whether to raise its minimum wage for health care workers to $25 per hour. On Tuesday afternoon, the city's Law and Legislation Committee held a meeting on the proposed ordinance.
They directed staff to prepare an economic and health impact report that would study the potential impacts of such an ordinance, and plan to bring the issue back up for discussion once the study is complete — likely not until at least September.
“For us to even consider a conversation, we do need to have the right information before us and understand what the impacts for us would be," Vice Mayor Eric Guerra said at the meeting.
Councilmember Katie Valenzuela first requested that city staff explore the idea in February. She said she was working in partnership with the labor union SEIU-UHW, which represents health care workers at many of the local hospitals, in requesting the ordinance.
“I think this is the direction the state is going, and I’m proud of that,” she said.
As currently written, the ordinance would cover all workers employed at an applicable health care facility, including workers who work directly with patients and those who don’t, including those who work in administration, maintenance, janitorial and food service. Health care facilities that would have to comply with the ordinance include acute care and psychiatric hospitals, outpatient clinics, federally qualified health centers and other community health centers in the...
stage at the Ninth Circuit, where pharmaceutical companies say a momentous new ruling "illustrates perfectly" the constitutional concerns of U. S. Supreme Court justices regarding FCA enforcement. ...