The proposed bill is likely to face pushback from businesses and legal challenges, primarily over the question of whether the bill would infringe on federal law.

Earlier this month, a lawyer for Chavez threatened to sue her San Diego counterparts for the way she claimed she was treated as an applicant for the $400,000 post.

An aggressive public campaign by organized labor for a Chavez appointment, which included outdoor rallies, attack mailers, disruption of public meetings and personal attacks on supervisors, appears to have backfired.

As extra pandemic benefits ended, California poverty rose in 2023. Pay increases in 2024 and labor activism could change the equation.

If no other candidate emerges, Mayor Matt Mahan will be the first unopposed mayoral candidate since the first popular election of a San Jose mayor in 1966.

Push to pass a labor-sponsored bill is a key ‘Fight for $15’ priority and a potential organizing foothold in an industry where unionization has long been elusive.

California is one of four states, including Oregon, Minnesota and Tennessee, along with Washington, D.C., that have proposed new laws.