Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/658783
ByDonThompson and Justin Pritchard The Associated Press SACRAMENTO A political deal to raise California's minimum wage to a nation- leading $15 an hour could help some workers cope with the state's crushing cost of living but also de- prive other low-wage earn- ers of jobs altogether, econ- omists said Monday as Gov. Jerry Brown and other lead- ers touted what would be a landmark agreement. California's economy is larger than that of most countries, with a wide di- versity of earners. While newly minted millionaires gentrify neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area, some Central Valley field hands lack access to clean water. A jump from the current $10 an hour spread over six years would affect millions of workers. Rafael Gutierrez, a 53-year-old farmworker, said the increase would let him treat his family to weekend dinners out and a short vacation to Dis- neyland from his home in Fresno County. His last job picking peaches and grapes paid $11 an hour. His girlfriend makes $14 an hour at Tar- get. Though their region is far from California's costli- est, "Right now, we're just making it," Gutierrez said. "Life is expensive." And then there are em- ployers such as Chuck Her- rin, owner of Sunrise Farm Labor, which provides roughly 2,500 workers each year in the San Joaquin Val- ley. Herrin predicted that farmers would hire 10 per- cent fewer workers, because of the higher cost of busi- ness. "It's going to be devastat- ing," said Herrin of the im- pacts on field workers and their dependent relatives. On Monday, Brown touted the deal his adminis- tration struck with legisla- tive and labor leaders as po- tentially historic, calling it a matter of economic justice. Under the proposal, which the Legislature would still have to approve, the mini- mum wage would rise grad- ually, reaching $15 by 2022. That hike would cre- ate the nation's highest statewide minimum wage. While Washington, D.C., is at $10.50, among states Cal- ifornia and Massachusetts are the highest at $10. Income inequality has emerged as a top issue na- tionally, with President Barack Obama proposing an increase to the federal minimum wage and Dem- ocratic presidential candi- date Bernie Sanders push- ing a $15-per-hour stan- dard. About 4 million workers in California earn wages in the $10 to $15 wage, accord- ing to calculations by Jef- frey Clemens, an economics professor at the University of California at San Diego. "The key question is what fraction of these workers will be lifted to the new minimum and what frac- tion will lose their jobs," Clemens wrote in an email. Economists includ- ing Clemens said in inter- views that projecting what would happen in California is tough because the pro- posed increase was signif- icantly larger than those in the past and may have unin- tended consequences. One leading economist on minimum wage issues said an increase from $10 to $15 would reduce em- ployment among the least- skilled workers by at least 5 to 10 percent. But the impact on employment might be even bigger be- cause employers would have to absorb signifi- cantly higher costs. "I would go so far as to call this reckless," said Da- vid Neumark, an economics professor at the University of California, Irvine. Neumark noted that the effects would vary by geog- raphy: In high-wage coun- ties such as San Francisco and Santa Clara, about 22 percent of workers would get a raise — in places such as Fresno and Merced coun- ties, about half the workers would. San Francisco voters ap- proved a measure two years ago to increase the min- imum wage of $10.74 an hour to $15 in 2018. It's cur- rently $12.25. Brian Hibbs, owner of comic book and graphic novel store Comix Experi- ence, said he supports the idea of a minimum stan- dard of living, but thinks the wage hike won't ac- complish that because it will hurt small businesses. Projecting that his payroll for six employees will be $40,000 greater in 2018, he started a graphic novel membership club to meet the new wage requirements. If the membership doesn't grow, he said, he may have to close. "When you're talking about small businesses like myself, who are members of our community, I don't think this was thought through," he said. "The cost of labor is so high, it's very, very difficult to run a profit- able business at this point." CALIFORNIA Hi gh er m in im um w ag e co ul d help some, but also kill jobs RICHPEDRONCELLI—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS California Gov. Jerry Brown discusses proposed legislation to increase the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022, during a news conference in Sacramento Monday. RINGO H.W. CHIU — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE An Apple iPhone 6s Plus smartphone is displayed at the Apple store at The Grove in Los Angeles. By Tami Abdollah and Brandon Bailey The Associated Press WASHINGTON The FBI said Monday it success- fully used a mysterious technique without Apple Inc.'s help to hack into the iPhone used by a gunman in a mass shooting in Cal- ifornia, effectively ending a pitched court battle be- tween the Obama admin- istration and one of the world's leading technol- ogy companies. The government asked a federal judge to vacate a disputed order forcing Ap- ple to help the FBI break into the iPhone, saying it was no longer necessary. The court filing in U.S. District Court for the Cen- tral District of California provided no details about how the FBI did it or who showed it how. The FBI is reviewing the information on the iPhone, the Justice Department said in a state- ment. Apple did not immedi- ately comment on the de- velopment. The brief court notice left important questions unanswered: Who showed the FBI how to break into iPhones? How did the gov- ernment bypass the secu- rity features that Apple has invested millions of dol- lars to build into its flag- ship product? Are newer iPhones vulnerable to the same hacking technique? Will the FBI share its infor- mation with scores of state and local police agencies that said they also need to break into the iPhones of criminal suspects? Will the FBI reveal to Apple how it broke its security? Did the FBI find anything useful on the iPhone? The surprise develop- ment also punctured the temporary perception that Apple's security might have been good enough to keep consumers' personal information safe even from the U.S. government — with the tremendous resources it can expend when it wants to uncover something. The FBI used the tech- nique to access data on an iPhone used by gunman Syed Farook, who died with his wife in a gun bat- tle with police after they killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California, in December. The iPhone was found in a vehicle the day after the shoot- ing; two personal phones were found destroyed so completely that the FBI couldn't recover informa- tion from them. U.S. magistrate Sheri Pym of California last month ordered Apple to provide the FBI with soft- ware to help it hack into Farook's work-issued iPhone. The order touched off a debate pitting digital privacy rights against na- tional security concerns. Apple was headed for a courtroom showdown with the government last week, until federal prosecutors abruptly asked for a post- ponement so they could test a potential solution brought to them by a party outside of the U.S. govern- ment last Sunday. Techni- cal experts had said there might be a few ways an outsider could gain access to the phone, but the FBI insisted repeatedly until then that only Apple had the ability to override the iPhone's security. Ju st ic e De pa rt men t cracks iPhone; withdraws legal action APPLE ENCRYPTION By Juliet Williams The Associated Press SACRAMENTO State law- makers will have their first opportunity to quiz the of- ficials responsible for Cal- ifornia's $64 billion high- speed rail plans at a com- mittee hearing Monday to review a new business plan that calls for overhauling its proposed route and post- poning the first service by three years. Those overseeing the project are expected to face tough questions about the plan to shift construction to the San Francisco Bay Area rather than head first to Southern California, an acknowledgement of the fi- nancial and political chal- lenges that have plagued the project. The new plan calls for building the first 250-mile segment from the rural town of Shafter to San Jose at a cost of nearly $21 bil- lion. The first leg would begin operating in 2025 — three years later and 50 miles shorter than the original planned route that would have sent trains to the San Fernando Valley. Project backers are tout- ing it as the first plan to build a fully operable line using only available fund- ing. But a briefing pre- pared for lawmakers ahead of Monday's meeting notes: "The funding outlined by the authority is far from guaranteed and associated risks remain high." The Legislature approved the first long-term funding source for high-speed rail in the 2014-15 budget, giving it a quarter of funds from fees charged to polluters, about $500 million a year. The rail project also has about $3.2 billion in federal stim- ulus funds and nearly $10 billion in bond money ap- proved by California voters in 2008. Public concern has in- creased as land acquisition got underway in the Cen- tral Valley. A poll last week by the Public Policy Insti- tute of California, however, found a slim majority of Cal- ifornians still support high- speed rail; though support is much more enthusiastic with a lower price tag. Lawmakers so far have played only a limited role in high-speed rail. The state's indepen- dent legislative analyst this month urged the Legisla- ture to become more in- volved, suggesting that it require more detailed plan- ning on the cost, scope and schedule of each high-speed rail segment. Some Southern Califor- nia lawmakers are also con- cerned about the decision to bring service north before it heads south. Monday's meeting of the Assembly Transportation Committee is expected to allow more time for public comment than an Assem- bly hearing in January that left critics incensed. How- ever, no critics of the proj- ect are among the seven speakers scheduled to tes- tify Monday. In a letter to the com- mittee, Citizens for High- Speed Rail Accountabil- ity urged lawmakers to re- consider all funding for bullet trains. "There is not enough money available to put a functional financially sound high-speed train on what they are building," the group wrote. HIGH-SPEED RAIL Lawmakers to scrutinize new train plans RICH PEDRONCELLI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The supports for a 1,600-foot-viaduct to carry high- speed rail trains across the Fresno River are seen under construction near Madera. | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, MARCH 29, 2016 8 A