A Los Angeles business group announced its support for Mayor Eric Garcetti’s proposed boost to the minimum wage Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Business Council, a Westside-based coalition of firms that has supported progressive causes such as affordable housing and clean-energy projects, appeared with Garcetti at a City Hall press conference.

Business Council President Mary Leslie said the group had “studied carefully Mayor Garcetti’s comprehensive proposal and agree that raising the minimum wage to increase aggregate income of all hard-working Angelenos is one of the key components of a healthy city.”

Leslie said afterward that the business council’s hundreds of members had voted on whether to endorse raising the minimum wage. About 70% supported the idea, she said.


Leslie said the business council’s support came on the condition that the wage increase be part of a broader economic strategy, including a reduction to the gross-receipts tax on business and efforts to address LA housing issues.

Other business groups, including the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles County Business Federation, have criticized Garcetti’s proposal to raise the local minimum wage to $13.25 by 2017. The City Council is considering a separate proposal to raise the wage to $15.25 by 2019.

At the press conference, the mayor also signed into law a business-tax reduction he had championed.

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