California’s lawmakers are demanding answers after a large donor of Governor Gavin Newsom appears to be exempt from new minimum wage laws.
A report from Bloomberg suggested that Newsom pushed to include an exemption in the state’s new fast food minimum wage law to benefit a large donor who owns over twenty Panera Bread stores in the state.
The law, which was already scaled back from $22 an hour after restaurants pushed back, requires fast-food chains to increase workers’ pay to at least $20 an hour starting April 11th of this year.
It also contains a peculiar exemption for fast-food restaurants that bake and sell their own bread.
Newsom’s donor, Greg Flynn, told Bloomberg he had nothing to do with the bread bakery exemption.
Finance records show Flynn donated more than $160,000 to Newsom’s anti-recall battle and 2022 reelection campaign.
Bloomberg’s report was met with incredulous reactions from California conservatives.
“Can any franchisee get an exemption from the $20 minimum wage law or do they need to donate more than $150k to Newsom first?” Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher posted.
Dan Schnur, a political science professor, told the San Francisco Chronicle, “It’s the governor’s obligation to explain why Panera (should benefit) from this. Absent that explanation, most voters are going to assume he did a big favor for a big donor.”
Newsom’s Excuse
Following the uproar, Newsom’s spokesman Alex Stack issued a statement.
“The Governor never met with Flynn about this bill and this story is absurd.”
The governor’s office went on to say its legal team determined that Panera is not exempt from the law because the business mixes its dough at one location and bakes it at another.
“There was never an intent to exclude one company, but instead to provide clarity on what constitutes a fast food establishment,” said Tim Orr, the executive director of Service Employees International Union.
However, that interpretation leaves many pizza and sandwich chains exempt.
Newsom has not elaborated further on the implications of his exemption.
Governor Nuisance is now Governor Panera. An ideal replacement for Sleazy Joe Biden, because he is evry bit as crooked as Joe,
How Newsom runs CA is hw he can the Nation
New scum is an appropriate name for a guy that has bankrupted California and turned a liberal state into a shithole state that people and businesses are fleeing in record numbers.
He’s as greasy as his hair.!
One more time… the elite live in one world; the rest of us struggle in the other.