California Voters Reject Statewide $18 Minimum Wage for All Employees
California voters narrowly rejected a ballot measure that would have raised the state minimum wage for some employees to $18.00 per hour by January 1, 2025, and for all California employees by January 1, 2026. This reportedly is the first rejection of a minimum wage ballot measure in the state’s history. Quick Hits California voters turned down a measure to increase the minimum wage to $18.00 per hour for all employees across the state by January 1, 2026. The rejection comes after the state raised the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20.00 per hour in April 2024. California’s Proposition 32 would have immediately raised the state minimum wage for employees with twenty-six or more employees to $17.00 per hour immediately and to $18.00 per hour on January 1, 2025. Proposition 32 also would have increased the minimum wage for employers with twenty-five or fewer employees to $17.00 per hour on January 1, 2025, and to $18.00 per hour on January 1, 2026. The ballot measure was defeated...