San Diego County receives a large amount of Medi-Cal revenue. A recent analysis by the UC Berkeley Labor Center indicates that the region receives nearly $13 billion per year, second in the state behind Los Angeles County, which receives $54 billion per year.

A helpful component of the mandated increases, whether at the statewide level or in individual cities, is that they’re tied to an index for measuring inflation. “The increases will be very welcome relief to millions of low wage workers in the state,” Jacobs said.

If San Diego were to adopt the proposed minimum wage ordinance, it would be following in the footsteps of a number of other cities that have enacted somewhat similar legislation targeting pay for hospitality industry workers, said Ken Jacobs.

Laurel Lucia, director of the Health Care Program at UC Berkeley Labor Center, said she is also somewhat surprised that a health care company would move toward a two-tier wage system at this particular moment when workforce shortages make worker happiness and satisfaction especially important.

While an explosion in gig workers is often assumed, clear evidence of it is hard to come by, said a study by the UC Berkeley Labor Center on gig workers in California.