Local News in Brief : Laguna Hills : Chamber to Oppose Minimum Wage Bill

The board of directors of the Saddleback Regional Chamber of Commerce has voted to oppose federal legislation calling for the minimum wage to be increased nationwide from the current $3.35 per hour to $4.65 over the next 3 years.

Yvonne M. Martin, the chamber’s director of communications, said the board of directors reviewed the pending federal bills at its meeting earlier this month.

“Faced with a sizable payroll increase, many small business owners would be forced to cut back on minimum wage employees, impacting the very group of workers the bill intends to help,” Martin said. “The chamber has written our federal legislators to enlist their aid in defeat of (the minimum-wage bills).”

Martin said the board of directors also voted to oppose a pending federal bill that would require employers of 50 or more workers to grant up to 10 weeks of unpaid “family leave” during any 2-year period of time. The bill calls for employers to continue health benefits for those on such leave.

Martin said the board opposed the measure because it “would place an unnecessary financial burden upon business owners.”