Should California's minimum wage be $18? Voters will soon decide
Voters will decide whether California should raise its minimum wage to $18 an hour, which would put it at the highest in the United States
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Voters will decide in November whether California should raise its hourly minimum wage to $18 by 2026 and pay workers what would be the highest statewide minimum wage in the country.
That would be on par with Hawaii, where workers are on track to get paid at least $18 per hour by 2028 under a law passed two years ago.
Five states — including Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee — do not have a minimum wage, though they are subject to the federal hourly minimum wage of $7.25.
California's ballot measure, Proposition 32, would raise the state’s current minimum wage of $16 to $17 for the remainder of 2024 for employers with at least 26 employees, increasing to $18 per hour starting in January 2025. Without it, the state's minimum wage is set to increase to $16.50 per hour next year.
