Proposition 32 was just rejected. In blue California, why did the minimum-wage boost fail?
A worker stocks grocery items at Northgate Market in Los Angeles. “It’s too much, too fast for the industry to absorb.” California had a recent real-world case study in raising the minimum wage to consider, which may have factored into voters’ decision-making: In April, the state’s fast-food workers saw their pay jump to a minimum of $20 an hour, an increase established by Assembly Bill 1228. “Fast-food consumers are very frustrated by the price increases that they’re seeing,” said Jot Condie, president and chief executive of the California Restaurant Assn., which opposed Proposition 32. “They were just connecting the dots and saying, ‘This $18-an-hour minimum wage is going to increase prices across the board.’” A McDonald’s in Azusa. “Instead, in situations where employers have some market power, higher minimum wages can raise employment.” California voters are heavily Democratic and a high minimum wage generally aligns with left-wing values, but voters on both sides of the aisle didn’t adhere to typical party-line trends when it came to Proposition 32.
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