California voters reject Proposition 32's minimum wage increase, CBS News projects
California voters have rejected Proposition 32, which would have increased California's minimum wage to $18 an hour, CBS News projects.
The ballot measure would have immediately increased the state's minimum wage rate to $17 an hour for employers with 26 or more employees. Beginning Jan. 1, 2025, it would have required workers at those businesses to receive a roughly 5.9% raise to $18, making the state's minimum wage the highest in the nation. For employers with 25 or fewer employees, the minimum wage would have increased to $17 on Jan. 1, 2025, and to $18 by Jan. 1, 2026.
Proposition 32's rejection comes after health care and fast-food workers in the state received a minimum wage boost this year, the latest in a series of hourly pay rate increases in California over the last 10 years.
Nearly 33% of California's labor force have low-wage jobs that pay less than $18 an hour. More than 3 million workers in California, or roughly 16% of the state's labor force, earned less than $17 an hour in 2024, according to Oxfam.
Over the past decade, the minimum wage rate in California has doubled from $8 to $16 an hour. In comparison, the federal standard is currently $7.25, which has been in place since 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Who supported Proposition 32?
The campaign for the measure won support from the California Democratic Party, California Labor Federation and California Teachers Association.
Leading up to the general election, entrepreneur Joe Sandberg and his committee raised about $10.4 million in support of Proposition 32, according to the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
In his argument for the measure, Sandberg said that a minimum wage ncrease would "create more jobs and more prosperity for everyone."
"When more Californians earn a fair wage for their work, our entire economy does better," he wrote. "Working people are better able to afford their rent, provide three meals per day for their kids, and all of that spending boosts the economies of our local communities.
Who opposed Proposition 32?
Critics of the measure included the California Grocers Association, Chamber of Commerce and Restaurants Association.
In California's Official Voter Information Guide, the opposition called Proposition 32 a "horribly flawed measure" that was "written by one multimillionaire alone."
The organizations claimed the ballot measure would have increased the cost of living, eliminated jobs and made it harder on businesses, similar arguments they made to the wage increase fast-food workers received earlier this year.
If the measure passed, businesses would have had until Jan. 1, 2026 to increase pay to at least $18 an hour.
In 2023, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law that mandated a minimum wage increase to $20 an hour for the state's 553,000 fast-food workers, beginning in April 2024.
When healthcare workers received a similar raise to as much as $25 an hour, some providers raised concerns about hospitals trying to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Critics claimed some providers would need to cut hours and jobs.