Voters in four states will decide whether to increase raises minimum wageThe votes came after a historic four-year process. inflation And economic discontent.

Alaska, California, Massachusetts and Missouri all have ballot initiatives that would raise minimum wages for workers. The Massachusetts measure is unique in that it gradually increases the minimum wage for tipped workers to equal the state’s regular minimum wage.

Minimum wage proposals are overwhelmingly popular and generally accepted even in Republican states. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, the same amount since 2009. The state minimum wage replaces the federal minimum wage; so if a state’s minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage, that state wage applies.

Voting initiatives

Alaska

Voters in the Last Frontier will decide on Ballot Measure 1, which would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027. The state’s current minimum wage is $11.73.

The measure would also allow workers at companies with more than 15 employees to receive up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year, and up to 40 hours of paid sick leave for companies with fewer than 15 employees.

It would also ban employers from inviting employees to attend meetings related to religious or political issues.

Yes to 1 campaign raised An effort of approximately $2.6 million was spent to pass the measure. The campaign’s largest financial backer is the Fairness Project, based in Washington, D.C., which works to raise wages across the country. Fairness Project takes Funding from labor unions. The Alaska AFL-CIO is the state’s largest union group and approved the ballot measure.

Vote Measure 1 received very little funding against it.

California

Californians will vote on whether to raise minimum wages to $18 per hour in Proposition 32. The Golden State’s minimum wage is currently more than $15, twice the federal minimum wage.

Like other ballot initiatives, the wage increase will be phased in over time, with the $18 minimum increase only becoming fully effective by 2026. The phase-in will be more gradual for businesses with fewer than 26 employees.

The California measure includes a provision that would index the state’s minimum wage to inflation, specifically the consumer price index. This part of the proposal means that if the country experiences a period of major inflation like the one experienced in the last four years, wages will rise along with it.

Joe Sanberg, anti-poverty advocate and startup investor abandoned According to him, he donated $10 million of his own money to get the measure on the ballot. CalMatters. The proposal is also supported by some labor unions in California. to contain Unite Here Local 11 and the Service Employees International Union.

The Chamber of Commerce, Restaurant Association and Grocers Association are spending against Proposition 32. Opponents argue that raising the minimum wage would only contribute to higher prices for consumers and hurt small businesses.

One last ad was cut The California Chamber of Commerce shows two women talking while shopping at a grocery store.

“The cost of putting food on the table is too high,” says one woman. “The thing is, it’s about to get worse. Proposition 32 will increase the price of everything.”

“I can’t take it anymore,” the other woman replies.

While the overwhelming majority of ballot initiatives to raise the minimum wage have passed even in very red states, recent polls show support for Proposition 32 is weakening.

The latest poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found support for increasing the minimum wage by 44%, while 54% of respondents said they would vote against the measure. While 50 percent of those surveyed in September said they supported increasing the minimum wage, 49 percent opposed it. All that is needed to pass the measure is a simple majority.

massachusetts

Question 5 in Massachusetts would change the way tipped employees are paid. The base salary of tipped employees is often much lower than that of non-tipped employees because the extra income comes in the form of tips.

Voters will need to decide whether they want to gradually raise wages (by 2029) to match the Bay State’s regular $15 minimum wage. It’s worth noting that the ballot initiative would still allow these workers to be tipped in addition to their base salary. The current base wage for tipped workers is $6.75.

Proponents of the measure argued that tipped workers do not always earn enough in tips to make up the gap between base pay and minimum wage, and that the increase in wages is fair given the cost of living.

Opponents argue that the increased cost burden for restaurant and bar owners will make it more difficult to operate these businesses. These businesses may also have to add service fees to offset losses; This means servers may earn less in tips.

The vast majority of the nearly $1 million in funding supporting the measure. is coming One Fair Wage, a liberal group that supports minimum wage increases. Nearly $1.5 million in donations opposing the measure came from the Massachusetts Restaurant Association and individual restaurant owners.

Washington DC passed a similar measure in 2022. In this case, Washington employers would be required to pay tipped employees a base wage of $16.10 per hour through 2027; this is the minimum wage for non-tipped workers.

Missouri

Missourians will decide whether to raise their state’s minimum wage from the current level of $12.30 per hour set in 2018. Proposition A would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026, with the increase rising to $13.75 next year.

The proposal would also require companies with 15 or fewer employees to provide employees with at least five paid sick days per year, and companies with more than 15 employees to provide at least seven paid sick days per year.

The Missouri Workers’ Center is one of the groups supporting the proposal. The group argues that raising the minimum wage is a matter of justice and would help the state’s overall economy by further stimulating economic activity.

A group that received signatures for the proposed law change published a statement. list Its website touts support from various labor unions and labor groups, as well as liberal organizations.

“When workers like me get a raise, my family will be able to shop at mom-and-pop stores and small businesses will win, too,” said Missouri Labor Center Leader Terrence Wise. said Fox4. “Prop A is not aimed at small businesses. “We’re going after Walmart, Amazon, McDonald’s and the big companies that can afford to give workers raises.”

The campaign to pass Proposition A has raised over $5 million for the cause, but no donations have yet been made reportedly According to him, there was an organized effort to oppose the initiative. Missouri Independent. Despite this, groups such as the state Chamber of Commerce have declared their opposition.

History of minimum wage increases

Minimum wage increases generally work well across the country. From 1996 to 2024, there have been 28 different minimum wage increase ballot initiatives decided by voters. Almost 93% of them were approved, and only two such votes have failed in the last three decades. An increase was last rejected in 1996.

The latest ballot measures on the minimum wage came during the 2022 midterm elections and involved voters in Nebraska, Nevada and Washington; all were passed with relatively strong support.

The economics of the minimum wage

The minimum wage debate has been going on for decades.

Dean Baker, co-founder of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research. Washington Comptroller Modest increases in the minimum wage have proven to have little material impact on overall government employment, a concern also voiced by critics of wage increases.

Baker said the lack of negative impact of minimum wage increases surprised even him. “Honestly, there were a lot of situations where I thought we would see an impact,” Baker said.

He added that the other part of the story is rapid inflation over the last few years, which has made life harder for many Americans. “It makes sense to try to make sure wages keep pace with inflation and at least not outpace inflation,” Baker said in an interview.

But critics say wages should be determined entirely by markets, not the government. Sean Higgins, a research fellow at the Libertarian Competitive Enterprise Institute, said he thought such ballot initiatives were well-intentioned but argued they were a “retrogressive” way to help the working poor.

“The best thing for them is a tight labor market where wages and benefits automatically increase as employers compete for workers,” he said. Washington Comptroller.

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Higgins said one reason for the spikes in inflation is that wages continue to rise.

“Then spikes in inflation put more pressure on wages to continually increase, and it becomes a wage-price spiral problem where one is always chasing the other,” he added.