A wealthy California investor has filed a ballot measure calling for an $18-per-hour minimum wage with the state attorney general’s office. As these pages often note, good intentions don’t always make for good policy. The Living Wage Act of 2022 is the wrong way for California to tackle poverty.
Joe Sanberg, who filed the measure, is a true believer and has made a name for himself promoting the Earned Income Tax Credit.
“If you work full time, you should be able to live with full financial security, and that’s not the case in California,” Sanberg told the Los Angeles times. “We were a leader in pushing for a $15 minimum wage, but now we have to move the ball forward and farther. It’s overdue for $18.”
Why not $25 an hour? Why not $50 an hour?
Every policy comes with trade-offs. The same applies to the minimum wage, and when considering those trade-offs, it’s evident that the proposal to raise the minimum wage is fool’s gold when it comes to helping Californians.
Former Gov. Jerry Brown admitted as much when he signed the last increase, set to hit $15 per hour by January for large employers, when he said, “Economically, minimum wages may not make sense,” before adding it made sense politically, morally and socially.
People want to feel like they’re helping people. But the minimum wage merely shuffles money around, with some benefiting from higher paychecks while others lose their jobs, which is why Brown said it makes no sense economically. To that point, earlier this...
IBM reached a settlement with the federal government on Friday, agreeing to pay roughly $17 million to resolve allegations of illegal diversity, equity and inclusion practices. Acting Attorney Gen...