Joe Sanberg grew up watching his single mom struggle financially. She worked minimum wage jobs in Orange County, and lost their home to foreclosure. Low-wage work “is personal to me,” he says.
Sanberg went on to attend Harvard and build up wealth on Wall Street. Now as an anti-poverty advocate, he is the main financial backer of Proposition 32 — a November ballot measure that would give minimum wage workers an extra $2/hour in the new year.
Under current law, the state minimum wage will increase from $16 to $16.50 an hour in January, and keep adjusting up annually for inflation. But if Prop 32 passes, it would increase to $17 for the remainder of 2024, and then $18 in January.
Approximately 2 million workers would see a change in their paychecks, according to the campaign.
Still, the overall enthusiasm for the proposed increase feels smaller than when the national Fight for $15 campaign came to California in 2012. Campaign spending has been pretty low for a wage-related measure — the Yes and No on Prop 32 campaigns have raised a combined total of just over $1 million, according to the California Secretary of State.
That may be because a lot of people saw their wages lift over the last few years. Officials in 40 cities and counties raised incomes higher than the state minimum due to skyrocketing costs. A tight labor market following the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown also pushed up salaries. And industry-specific groups lobbied the state for even bigger raises. Many fast food workers now make $20 an hour, and starting on October 16 certain health care workers will earn $25 an hour.
Sanberg believes California’s economy can handle a higher minimum wage. He points to record corporate profits, and research showing that paying fast food workers more didn’t cause substantial disruptions to the industry. The number of jobs is about the same as last year, and according to a new study, workers’ hours haven’t been cut.
Gloria Escobar is the kind of Californian Sanberg wants to help. She’s a grocery store cashier and single mom raising a 12-year-old autistic daughter. She makes a little more than the minimum wage at $16.70 an hour at a Food 4 Less in Lynwood.
“It makes me want to cry thinking about money, because I struggle,” she says.
A raise would allow Escobar to buy more basics for her child like uniforms, school supplies, and snacks. To make ends meet now, they live with Escobar's mother and split the bills. She says every paycheck disappears quickly. Whenever she has a little cash left over, she buys one of her daughter’s favorites: chili cheese fries. “I try to keep the smile on my daughter’s face,” she says.
Even if her hourly pay jumped to $18, most people wouldn’t call that comfortable. In California, a single adult needs $27.32 an hour to support themselves, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator.
“As much as we want immediate solutions, in politics, you have to sometimes go with incremental progress,” says Sanberg.
The state’s unions support the idea of the lowest-paid workers bringing home bigger paychecks, even though many of their members make more than $18. The powerful California Labor Federation, and unions for service and hotel workers, are all endorsing it.
Business groups, which generally don’t like wage increases, oppose Prop 32. The California Chamber of Commerce, California Grocers Association, and California Restaurant Association, have all signed onto the No on 32 campaign.
The last few years, small businesses have grappled with uncertainty brought on by inflation, says John Kabateck, the California state director for the National Federation of Independent Business. “A minimum wage increase is a righteous idea,” says Kabateck. “It's just the timing right now is very difficult.”
There is a carveout in Prop 32 for businesses with fewer than 26 employees: The minimum wage would increase first to $17 in January, and then $18 in 2026.
But even that graduated approach worries Kabateck, and he says he expects business owners to pass the cost on to consumers. That’s largely been the case with the $20 fast food minimum wage, where many franchise owners have raised menu prices.
“I think [businesses] just want some understanding of what the future holds for them,” says Kabateck.
But those businesses might want to get ready to pay more to their employees. The latest Berkeley IGS poll shows 46% of voters support Prop 32 versus 36% oppose it.