The fight for $18? It’s on, say supporters of raising the minimum wage in California.
California’s minimum wage rose in January to $15 an hour for employers with 26 or more employees, and $14 an hour for employers with 25 or fewer. Under a ballot initiative currently being circulated for signatures, the minimum wage would continue increasing by a dollar each year until it hit $18 an hour.
Under the proposed initiative, the California governor would have the authority to suspend the annual increase up to two times, such as during periods of decreased economic activity or during a general fund deficit.
On Feb. 8, California Secretary of State Shirley Weber cleared the way for supporters of the initiative to begin circulating petitions to get it on the November ballot. Proponents have until Aug. 8 to submit signatures from at least 623,212 registered voters in order to qualify the initiative.
“We will get on the November 2022 ballot,” said entrepreneur Joe Sanberg, who is the proponent of record for the initiative.
Ken Jacobs, chair of the UC Berkeley Labor Center, said that while $15 was a significant increase in the state’s minimum wage, it still falls below what a typical Californian needs to earn in order to meet basic needs in the state.
“$18 an hour would bring the minimum wage closer to a living wage,” Jacobs said.
He said that increasing the minimum wage would not just benefit millions of low-wage working Californians, it would have “pretty big downstream effects” for the state as well, including improved physical and mental health, decreased absenteeism at work and improved children’s outcomes.
Jacobs said the that the impact on businesses would be relatively small.
Sanberg said that he was committed to making sure the initiative ends up in front of voters this November.
“We’ll spend whatever is necessary to get this on the ballot and we’ll spend whatever is necessary to make sure it passes,” he said.
As for how he chose $18 an hour as the minimum wage he wants to see, Sanberg said that that was a compromise, that he felt the minimum wage ought to be much higher but that he had to confront the political reality of what voters would accept.
He said he’s not trying to be performative on social media, but to actually get something concrete that would affect millions of Californians.
“Our conclusion is that we will win $18,” Sanberg said. “That’s a big raise.”
———
