Here’s a look at some of the state legislative proposals that became the law of the land when the clock struck Jan. 1 of the new year.

The wage floor in San Jose ticked up to $13.50 an hour, the next step in a region-wide push to raise minimum hourly pay to $15 by next year.

We reached out to five San Jose businesses with minimum-wage workers to see how they’re coping since the pay floor went to $12.

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo took part in Metro’s SV411 podcast to discuss everything from Donald Trump and Google to pension reform.

In less than a week, San Jose’s minimum-wage workers can expect a pay bump. A wage increase to $12 an hour is set to go into effect July 1.

The New Year brought with it 898 new laws, including measures on gun control, cyberbullying, driving and employment.

San Jose will up its minimum wage to $15 when the clock strikes 2019 as part of a regional effort to raise the standard of living in Silicon Valley.

San Jose plans to raise the minimum wage to $15, but city officials disagree about how quickly to phase it in and whether to allow exemptions.

Actors Max Carver, Danny Glover and Kendrick Sampson spoke at South Bay college campuses Thursday to rally support for Bernie Sanders' campaign.

A new study found that a quarter of local workers would see a 20-percent pay bump if the region upped its minimum wage to $15.

A regional minimum wage plan has generated broad support, but also anxiety that a segment of low-income workers will be left behind.

A few years after upping the minimum wage to the double-digits, San Jose will consider raising it again.

San Jose may enlist garbage trucks as eyes on the ground for a short-staffed police force.

Two years after upping its local minimum wage, San Jose may back a statewide effort to raise the minimum to $13 an hour by 2017. Mayor Sam Liccardo, who voted against San Jose's minimum wage increase in 2012, says the policy makes more sense at a state level.

More than a year after San Jose upped its minimum wage to $10 an hour and as the conversation around pay increases for low-paid workers ramps up on a national scale, Santa Clara County is starting to look at enacting a similar measure for unincorporated parts of the region. Supervisor Dave Cortese, who’s also running for mayor of San Jose, will lead the discussion when the Board of Supervisors meets on Tuesday. A county ordinance comes with many more challenges than a citywide measure, Cortese notes.

Income inequality is one of the biggest problems in Silicon Valley. We have at least 48 billionaires in the Bay Area alone. Yet, we also have thousands of people who struggle to survive working low wage jobs. Even the recent increase in the minimum wage in San Jose is not enough to live in an area where housing prices have soared, transportation costs continue to increase and most people have a negative net worth. But as individuals, we can make a difference.