San Francisco rules committee advances $15 minimum-wage ballot measure with enforcement amendments

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors— Rules Committee on July 17 advanced a ballot ordinance that would raise the city—s minimum wage to $12.25 on May 1, 2015 and phase it to $15 an hour by July 1, 2018, adopting a set of enforcement amendments authored by Supervisor Jane Kim and agreeing to continue the item to the committee—s July 24 meeting to finalize language.

Supervisor Jane Kim, sponsor of the measure, told the committee the proposal contains no tip credit or health-care credit and would apply citywide, including two categories of government-supported employees. Kim read three amendments into the record that add an "enforcement priority" policy directing the mayor and the board to study tools to combat wage theft; require city departments to cooperate with revocation or suspension requests from the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement; and change the operative date to May 1, 2015 so the measure preserves a consumer-price-index increase already…