A ballot measure that seeks to raise California’s minimum wage is on the verge of defeat, with some that voted against it saying they feared it could cause the price of goods and services to increase.
“We can’t just keep raising the minimum wage,” Eric Check, 47, an agricultural machine worker living in Merced, told The Epoch Times while waiting in line to vote. “It’s going to make everything more expensive for everybody.”
“Our analysis shows that the risk of further fueling inflation by increasing minimum wages is limited,” the authors wrote.
The economists urged caution, as wages would also need to increase across the board, or “wage distribution compression” would occur which could negatively affect some careers.
One voter said the issue is complex but said she would vote against it because it would be “unfair” to those who are already making slightly more than was proposed.
“It wouldn’t help the middle class which is struggling right now,” Jessica Gutierrez, a customer service representative in the Central Valley, told The Epoch Times. “And I think it will make things worse before it makes anything better.”
Increasing the minimum wage could cause other wages to rise, analysts said.
Prices would also likely increase, as costs to businesses would be higher, and some of these costs would be passed onto consumers, according to the summary—though analysts estimated the impact would be less than half a percentage point.
Analysts also expect profits would decrease for some businesses if the measure passed, which could cause tax revenues to decline.
Government expenditures would increase to cover payroll costs and for services performed by contractors, according to the summary, while some savings could occur as fewer people would enroll in programs for lower-income individuals.
“Combining these two pieces, total state and local government costs could go up or down,” analysts wrote, estimating fluctuations up to hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Meanwhile, supporters point to the ballots yet to be counted from Alameda, Los Angeles, and San Francisco counties, among other liberal strongholds, as a sign that the proposition could still pass.
Others are less optimistic and suggest the current tally will be difficult to overcome, given that hundreds of thousands of votes are still processing from more conservative areas—including Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.
One proponent said higher wages would bring relief to those living in poverty.
“There are millions of people in the state who deserve to earn more,” Mark Williams of Sonoma County told The Epoch Times. “This is a commonsense measure. I’m surprised the vote is so close.”
“We rely on essential workers to keep our state running and meet critical needs, but many low-wage workers and their families are living in poverty and facing housing insecurity and hunger,” the campaign website reads. “People who work full-time should get paid enough to live on and not have to take on second and third jobs just to keep a roof over their heads and feed their families.”
One group supporting the proposal said the higher pay will benefit the economy.
If the measure ultimately fails, the minimum wage will increase slightly to $16.50 an hour to account for inflation in 2025, as calculated by the state’s Department of Finance.
A state lawmaker said singling out the fast food industry was unfair but also noted that the higher pay is causing other industries to raise wages to attract applicants.
“All businesses have to pay at least $20 an hour now to compete in the labor market,” Republican Leader Assemblyman James Gallagher told The Epoch Times.
With voters seemingly denying Prop. 32, a rent control measure, and a proposal that would have made it easier for local governments to raise taxes, while approving a measure that strengthens penalties for certain drug and theft crimes, one voter said the state is moving toward the ideological center.
