Proposed initiative would raise minimum wage

Secretary of State Dr. Shirley N. Weber announced that the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures today, Tuesday, Feb. 8

The text of the proposed initiative
Existing law requires annual increases to California’s minimum wage until it has reached $15 per hour for all businesses Jan. 1, 2023. This measure extends these annual increases ($1 per year) until minimum wage — currently, $15 per hour for businesses with 26 or more employees, and $14 per hour for smaller businesses — reaches $18 per hour. Thereafter, as existing law requires, the minimum wage will annually adjust for inflation. In periods of decreased economic activity, or general fund deficit, the governor may suspend annual increase up to two times, thereby extending timeline for reaching $18 per hour. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Unclear change in annual state and local tax revenues, likely between a loss of a couple billion dollars and a gain of a few hundred million dollars. Increase in annual state and local government costs likely between half a billion dollars and a few billion dollars.

The proponent of the measure, Joe Sanberg, must collect signatures of 623,212 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2018 general election) in order for the measure to become eligible for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than Aug. 8, 2022. The address for the proponent is c/o George Yin, Kaufman Legal Group, APC, 777 South Figueroa Street, Suite 4050, Los Angeles, CA 90017. The proponent can be reached at (707) 337-3796 or email [email protected].