From signature drive to ballot result
The Living Wage Act spent more than two years between its first signatures and the vote. This timeline lists the key public milestones together with the statewide wage changes that happened at the same time.
- February 2022
Signature drive begins
Supporters start collecting voter signatures for the Living Wage Act of 2022, an initiative to raise the statewide minimum wage to $18 an hour.
- May 2022
More than a million signatures submitted
Proponents turn in over one million signatures to county election officials, aiming for the November 2022 ballot.
- June 30, 2022
Deadline for the 2022 ballot passes
County verification is not complete by the deadline to qualify for that year's general election.
- July 7, 2022
Qualified for 2024
The Secretary of State reports that the initiative is eligible for the next general election. The random sample count found 738,449 of 1,062,568 submitted signatures valid.
- January 1, 2023
State minimum reaches $15.50 for all employers
The separate schedules for small and large employers end.
- January 1, 2024
State minimum rises to $16.00
The first increase under the inflation formula after the schedules merged.
- April 1, 2024
$20 fast food minimum takes effect
Covered employees of limited-service chains with 60 or more locations nationwide must earn at least $20 an hour.
- 2024
Numbered Proposition 32
The measure appears on the November 5, 2024 ballot. The Legislative Analyst's Office publishes its analysis of the wage schedule and fiscal effects.
- November 5, 2024
Voters reject Proposition 32
Yes: 7,469,803 votes (49.29%). No: 7,686,126 votes (50.71%). The existing minimum wage law stays in place.
- January 1, 2025
State minimum rises to $16.50
Set by the annual inflation adjustment.
- January 1, 2026
State minimum rises to $16.90
Set by the annual inflation adjustment.
A measure that fails at the ballot box leaves existing law unchanged: after November 2024 the statewide minimum wage continued to follow the annual inflation adjustment.