SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — The California General Assembly passed a bill Monday tweaking the state's new law that sets a $20-per-hour minimum wage for fast food workers.
Assembly Bill 610 — written by Assemblymember Chris Holden, a Pasadena Democrat — carves out more exemptions for workers who aren’t affected by the new wage that becomes effective April 1. The new exemptions include workers at restaurants in airports, hotels, event centers, theme parks, museums, gambling spots, corporate campus cafeterias, and ports, piers, beaches and parks on publicly owned land.
Holden, speaking Monday in favor of his bill, said workers at those establishments often receive compensation that’s greater than the $20 minimum imposed by Assembly Bill 1228, which passed last year and was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.
"AB 610 makes technical amendments to clarify that certain workers at restaurants that are operated in conjunction with larger enterprises, many of whom have historically established compensation and working conditions in excess of the new standards set by AB 1228, do not fall within the fast food industry covered by the law,” Holden states in a bill analysis.
The bill is supported by Service Employees International Union California.
Assemblymember James Gallagher, a Yuba City Republican and his party’s leader in the party, blasted the new law, saying the state will see the cost of living rise in a few years because of the fast food minimum wage law.
“And what we’re also going to see is more automation,” Gallagher said, adding moments later: “The process that happened last year stinks.”
Gallagher said negotiations on last year’s bill happened behind closed doors. That comment drew a rebuke from Speaker pro Tempore Jim Wood, who instructed Gallagher to focus on AB 610 in his remarks.
Republicans like Gallagher have slammed Newsom over media reports that policy discussions happened out of public view. They’ve also latched onto reports that one of the original exemptions in Holden’s first bill would apply to Panera Bread.
That exemption includes restaurants that, as of Sept. 15, 2023, operated a bakery that produces bread for sale on site.
Greg Flynn, a billionaire who owns several of the restaurants in California, is friends with Newsom and has donated to his campaigns.
Some Republicans have dubbed the situation “PaneraGate.” Newsom and Flynn deny any collusion occurred.
“The governor never met with Flynn about this bill and this story is absurd,” the governor's spokesperson Alex Stack said in a statement. “Our legal team has reviewed and it appears Panera is not exempt from the law.”
Gallagher and Senator Brian Jones, Gallagher’s counterpart in the Senate, sent a letter earlier this month to Newsom asking him to release records about the negotiations for Assembly Bill 1228. They want to learn how the bakery exemption was formed.
Republicans also sent a letter to Attorney General Rob Bonta calling for an investigation into what’s called a “possible pay-to-play deal.”
“He holds the highest office in this state and should be leading by example, not recusing himself and dismissing it as just ‘sausage-making,’” said Senator Brian Dahle, a Republican from Bieber and Newsom’s opponent for governor in 2022, in a statement earlier this month.
There was little doubt about the fate of Assembly Bill 610 on Monday. Assemblymember Eloise Reyes, a Colton Democrat, said the new exemptions are needed. Many workers at restaurants in museums or theme parks already make over $20 an hour and shouldn’t have their wages limited.
The bill passed 55-5. Meeting the two-thirds passage needed for urgency, it now moves to the governor’s desk and will become effective upon signing.
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