California’s elected officials have backed a $15-an-hour minimum wage by 2023 but a new report says only a few of them pay their legislative interns.

“California has been such a leader in equity and labor issues, this is an opportunity to practice what we preach in our own halls,” said Victoria Pfau, who was an unpaid intern for state Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Van Nuys) in 2019.

Hundreds of interns work at the state’s Capitol and in district offices, according to a report from the nonprofit PayYourInterns, which advocates for paid internship programs nationwide, but less than 7 percent of elected officials pay their young talent.

The report also found that nearly 65 percent of the state’s senators and assembly members had no information about internship opportunities on their websites despite some boasting teams of up to 20. That lack of information hinders participation for those without the right network, said PayYourInterns executive director Carlos Vera.

“I don’t think I would’ve ever known about the internship if I hadn’t known someone in the office already,” said David, a 20 year-old Assembly intern who works for a Democratic legislator and asked to be identified only by his first name because he is still at the Capitol. He also works full time as a procurement analyst for a janitorial company.

At least five other state legislatures, including Arizona and Indiana, have implemented programs to pay Capitol interns, the report says. Yet after more than a year of advocating with California lawmakers, Vera says support is proving harder to get than it was in Congress, which established a paid program in 2019, two years after his organization released a similar report.

“[California legislators] support a $15 hour wage, you would think they’d be supportive of this,” said Vera, who was an unpaid intern for former Congressman Joe Baca in 2012 while working two jobs and taking six college classes.

Vera added that the California Department of Human Resources, which is responsible for payroll for the state legislature, does not keep track of the number of interns. The department did not respond to a request for comment.

Internships offer a critical boost for many young professionals. After Pfau completed her internship with Hertzberg, which she said was an “amazing experience,” she was able to find paid positions with congressmembers in Washington, DC.

But Pfau, who worked two part-time gigs and went to school full time at a community college in the San Fernando Valley, said she had to reduce her hours at her two paid jobs when she took on the internship. “It’s impossible for somebody that doesn’t come from wealth to do it,” Pfau said. “In terms of representation it makes it harder to access government.” Hertzberg’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

White students are overrepresented in paid internships nationwide while Black students are overrepresented in unpaid ones, surveys by the National Association for Colleges and Employers show.  Latinx students are more likely to have never had an internship at all. 

PayYourInterns is proposing California lawmakers adopt a $3 million a year plan that would create 720 intern positions with pay of $15 an hour.

“In terms of representation of people of color in politics, it’s going to help,” said David, who identifies as Latino and is part middle-Eastern. “It’s a step in the door for working in politics.”

This article is part of the California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequality and economic survival in California.