A new California law aimed in part at boosting salaries for fast food workers has been delayed for nearly two years following industry resistance. Now, the Democrats who control the state Legislature might have figured out how to raise worker pay anyway.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law last year. It created a 10-member council with the authority, among other things, to increase the state’s $15.50 minimum wage to a maximum of $22 per hour for some fast food workers. Some experts quickly hailed the law as one of the “most significant pieces of employment legislation passed in a generation.”
But unlike in most states, California voters have the power to overturn some laws passed by the Legislature. Business groups who opposed the law gathered enough signatures to qualify for a referendum in 2024. In the meantime, the law does not take effect.
Business groups were confident the law would ultimately be blocked at the ballot box. But tucked inside California’s more than $300-billion operating budget is a provision to resurrect a long-dormant regulatory commission that would have powers similar to that of the fast food council.
The Industrial Welfare Commission regulates wages, hours and working conditions in California. It has been dormant for most of this century. The Democratic-controlled Legislature stripped its funding in 2004 when Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor, making it more difficult for the Republican to influence the state’s wage regulations. The commission has...
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested former TV host Jay Sonza for the alleged spread of false medical information about President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. In a Facebook post, the NBI...