After two weeks of postelection uncertainty, Proposition 32, the initiative to increase the state’s minimum wage to $18 an hour, was defeated by a narrow margin. The rejection was “a pretty poignant sign of the times in a state like California,

The California Restaurant Association, California Chamber of Commerce, and California Grocers Association oppose the minimum wage increase. They argue that Proposition 32 would compel small businesses to hike prices, contributing to inflation and elevated living costs, ultimately harming working families.

Voters have rejected Prop. 32, which would have raised the state's minimum wage to $18 per hour by 2026, the highest in the U.S.

California voters have rejected a measure on the November ballot that would have raised the minimum wage for most workers to $18 an hour.

A California measure that would have raised the state’s minimum wage to $18 is projected by The Associated Press to lack the votes necessary to pass. Proposition 32 would have had employers reach an $18 minimum wage by Jan.

Opponents of a ballot initiative that would raise California’s minimum wage from $16 to $18 an hour are declaring victory. With 94% of the votes counted as of Tuesday, Yes on Proposition 32 was trailing by 245,

In the decade leading up to Proposition 32's placement on the ballot this year, California has doubled its minimum wage from $8 an hour to $16.

This proposition would immediately increase the rate to $17 an hour, and then to $18 an hour on Jan. 1, 2025, for workplaces with 26 or more employees. For smaller employers, the rate would increase to $17 on Jan. 1, 2025, and then to $18 on Jan. 1, 2026.

California voters reject ballot measure that would have raised state's minimum wage to a national high of $18 per hour