California's New $20 Minimum Wage Law Includes Odd Exemption That Benefits a Big Gavin Newsom Donor

California's New $20 Minimum Wage Law Includes Odd Exemption That Benefits a Big Gavin Newsom Donor

California has passed a new law to raise minimum wage to 20 dollars per hour. But there's a very odd and suspicious exception written into the law.

There's a strange and oddly specific loophole in that law, which exempts chains that bake and sell bread as a stand-alone item from raising their minimum wage.
It's a little too specific.

It makes sense, however, when you learn that billionaire Greg Flynn, owner of a fast food and restaurant empire that includes several Panera Breads in the state of California, is a longtime friend of California Governor Gavin Newsom who frequently donates vast sums of money to his political enterprises.

Fast-food chains in the state are forced to raise their wages to at least $20 per hour or face crippling fines, and will have to raise their prices to compensate for the wage increase. But the Panera Bread chain has evaded the new stipulation to raise their minimum wage to $20 per hour.

California's New $20 Minimum Wage Law Includes Odd Exemption That Benefits a Big Gavin Newsom Donor, by Allison Anton, The Western Journal, Feb 29, 2024