First in a series. 

So you think you understand the state of the minimum wage debate that has been raging for months.

To truly comprehend the minimum wage in Los Angeles County, you need two volumes, a Book of Definitions plus a dictionary.

And patience.

As second-year state Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas (D-Culver City/Crenshaw District) explains, there are three types of wages, Anti-Poverty Wage, Minimum Wage and a Living Wage.

“Then there is a question of whether the governmental entities are starting with themselves or if the private sector is included in establishing a wage floor,” Mr. Ridley-Thomas said.

Separately, “the state minimum wage is multi-fold.”

Fifteen dollars an hour is the most popular target, and the Assemblyman is not opposed to establishing it as law. “I would like to see the state lead on this, but it will cost a great deal for that to happen,” Mr. Ridley-Thomas said.

“I want government to make sure we are not in the business of spreading poverty.”

Application of the minimum wage “needs to start, in my opinion, with government contractors and employees so that they don’t need public assistance. That is not where we should be.”

Turning to specific numbers, “public assistance is for those individuals earning in the $20,000 a year range, which is quite low in California, particularly in major metropolitan areas,” Mr. Ridley-Thomas said.

“I don’t think that any fulltime state employee should be making less than $30,000 a year. That is my opinion.”

(To be continued)