California touted a victory for working people in 2016 when it enacted a sweeping series of minimum wage hikes, making sure the lowest-paid workers would earn at least $15 an hour by 2022. 

While signing the law, then-Gov. Jerry Brown spoke of “giving people their due.” Then-Senate leader Kevin de León spoke in Spanish of making it possible to achieve the American dream.

Now, voters are being asked to boost the statewide minimum wage again, two years after the landmark $15 wage took effect. 

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The initiative would raise the overall minimum wage from $16 an hour and adjust it for inflation. Fast food workers received a $20-an-hour minimum on April 1, and health care workers will eventually get $25, though not until at least Oct. 15.

Here’s what you need to know about Prop. 32:

What would it do?

Proposition 32 would raise the minimum wage to $17 for the remainder of 2024 and $18 an hour starting in January — a bump from the current $16. Small businesses with 25 or fewer employees would be required to start paying at least $17 next year and $18 in 2026. If voters say “yes,” California will have the nation’s highest state minimum wage.

In 2027, the wage would be adjusted based on inflation, as the state already does. The hike would apply statewide, but it would have a bigger effect in some areas than in others. Nearly 40 California cities have local minimum wages higher than the state’s, including six that require at least $18 an hour.

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Why is it on the ballot?

In 2022, California became the first state to reach a $15 minimum wage — a figure long fought for by unions and restaurant workers. But labor activists say the state’s sky-high cost of living has already made that standard barely livable.

According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, even in the cheapest California county (Modoc), a single adult with no children would need to make at least $20.32 an hour to comfortably afford the basics. The statewide average? $27.32.

Wealthy startup-investor-turned-anti-poverty-advocate Joe Sanberg first pushed an $18 minimum wage three years ago and poured $10 million into a signature-gathering effort to qualify the measure for the 2022 ballot. The measure included more gradual wage hikes starting in 2023. But the campaign missed a key deadline, pushing it to this year’s ballot. That means a quicker hike to $18 in January if voters approve the measure in November.

Proponents

Labor groups support the measure, though many say it’s not as high a minimum wage as they’d like. Sanberg estimates it would give raises to 2 million workers statewide who haven’t yet benefitted from industry-specific raises or don’t live in cities that require a higher wage.

Supporters also argue the money would help families afford basic needs, would be spent at local businesses and would help reduce low-income Californians’ use of taxpayer-provided benefits. UC Berkeley studies have found that California’s gradual increase to $15 had “no significant” effect on job losses.

What’s next?

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Coming Friday: Proposition 33

Opponents

Business groups oppose the measure. They argue employers already face increased supply and labor costs from inflation, and that for some, business hasn’t bounced back fully since the COVID pandemic.

They point to the state government itself, which, facing a budget deficit, delayed a $25 health care worker minimum wage until this fall to determine whether there is enough cash to cover it, and argue that private employers should get the same benefit. Opponents also tout surveys commissioned by the small city of West Hollywood, where 42% of businesses said they laid off staff or cut workers’ hours in response to the city’s $19.08 minimum wage.

Funders

A total of $675,000 has been invested in Prop 32, with the majority — $610,000 — in support of the effort.

More information

Additional information about California’s other propositions can be found here.