In summary
California voters are deciding whether to raise the statewide minimum wage to $18 an hour. Fast food and health care workers already get more.
A ballot proposition to raise California’s minimum wage to $18 an hour is in voters’ hands as the state continues to grapple with its high cost of living.
Proposition 32 would raise the state minimum wage to $17 for the rest of the year, and then $18 in January for large employers. Smaller employers — those with 25 or fewer workers — would be required to pay at least $17 in January and at least $18 in January 2026.
The state’s minimum wage is already tied to inflation: If the measure does not pass, the lowest-paid workers will still get a 50-cent raise to $16.50 in January. For a full-time worker, that’s a little more than $34,000 a year.
The measure would give California the highest state minimum wage in the nation. Supporters estimate it could give raises to about two million Californians who work in such industries as warehousing, restaurants, agriculture and child care.
Prop. 32’s fate could signal how liberal California’s electorate remains on economic policies as the cost of living continues rising.
While the state has boosted pay for hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers in recent years and likely voters indicated last year that they support raising the state minimum wage to $18, recent polling showed Californians split on the measure. A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey conducted Oct. 22-29 found 47% of likely voters in support, 39% against and 14% still undecided, compared to 37% in favor, 36% opposed and 27% unsure in its late September poll.
What do supporters say?
The ballot proposition was sponsored by investor and anti-poverty advocate Joe Sanberg and backed by labor unions, progressive groups and the California Democratic Party.
Supporters argued the state’s lowest earners needed a boost to afford housing and other basic needs.
What do opponents say?
Prop. 32 was opposed by the state Chamber of Commerce and business groups representing the grocery, agricultural and restaurant industries.
Business owners argued mandating pay hikes would increase food prices and worsen inflation, seizing on those concerns during a year when American consumers have remained pessimistic about the economy, despite inflation falling steadily from a pandemic-era peak.
Why is it on the ballot?
Prop. 32 had an unusual path to the ballot. It didn’t come from the usual players in labor politics — the unions that dominate the California Democratic Party and command strong support in the Legislature. Unions were instrumental in 2016 in striking a deal with lawmakers and then-Gov. Jerry Brown to mandate a series of wage hikes that brought the state’s minimum wage up to $15 in 2022.
Instead, Sanberg personally poured $10 million into qualifying the measure. When he announced the measure late in 2021, a hike to $18 appeared ambitious. But by the time the proposition made it to the 2024 ballot, California unions and lawmakers had already outpaced it.
A $20 minimum wage for fast food workers went into effect this April. The healthcare industry in October also began raising pay for a scheduled minimum wage hike to $25. Los Angeles hotel workers are seeking a $30 minimum wage by the 2028 Olympics.
For everyone else, the state minimum wage continued to rise with inflation, reaching $16 this year.
Supporters said those left behind still deserve to earn more. According to researchers at MIT, a single Californian with no children needs at least $27 an hour to be self-sufficient.
But with far fewer workers in line for a raise under Prop. 32, the campaign for the measure was met with less fanfare and public support than initially envisioned. Union leaders, while backing the measure, said $18 can hardly be considered a living wage in California today.
Sanberg and proponents have said the measure is simple and attractive enough to most voters that they did not need to blanket the state with ads or spend big on a formal campaign. But in the final weeks of the election, as polling showed its chances of passage falling, they said they’re reaching out to working class voters and those in big cities, to turn out likely supporters.
