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On Sept. 18 Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have raised the California minimum wage from $6.75 to $7.75 per hour by July 2006.Schwarzenegger contended that the bill, if approved, would have encouraged businesses to relocate to other states and would ultimately hurt the state economy.Lieber, who drafted the bill, said that raising the minimum wage is vital to many Californians who are currently struggling to make ends meet despite full-time employment. "Although working full-time, many of these workers aren't going to be paid enough to stay alive," Lieber said in an interview. She went on to describe one minimum-wage worker who worked two jobs around the clock and still had to live in a homeless shelter with his family due to high housing prices in the area. The current minimum wage is 88 cents below the federal poverty level for the state of California. The poverty line at the federal level is determined by the cost of subsistence for a three-person family. "Minimum-wage workers are predominantly heads of households, women workers and workers of color," Lieber said. She added that from a "moral standpoint" this makes it difficult for people, primarily minorities, to provide for their families. Thus, she argues that the minimum-wage issue is not only an economic but also a racial problem. [more

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