California’s Democratic politicians think they should micromanage every industry in the state. Fast food is their next big target.
The California Legislature passed a bill that would create a council to dictate wages and working conditions for fast-food workers. The council could set a minimum wage for fast-food workers as high as $22 an hour and will annually change (read: increase) the minimum wage to match the cost of living beyond that. The council will last for six years but can be reconvened at any time in the future, effectively making it permanent.
California’s foray into controlling the fast-food industry isn’t the first time politicians decided they want to do everyone’s job other than their own. The state infamously decided it knew what gig workers and independent contractors wanted more than the workers themselves did, heavily restricting them across almost all industries (before granting carve-outs to their favorite industries when they complained). The result was many independent workers found themselves out of work.
Democratic politicians also recently reaffirmed their desire to control what kind of cars are sold. It isn’t just industry-altering changes these politicians want either. Some politicians have repeatedly brought forward a bill that would dictate how department stores lay out toys because the interior design of department stores is something that officials in the largest state in the country should be concerned about right now. And who can forget about the unconstitutional diversity mandates for company boards, telling companies to discriminate in their hiring to fight discrimination?
This decision, like many of the decisions California makes on behalf of workers, will likely send more businesses out of state. California already has the highest poverty rate in the country, and the state has become increasingly unlivable for lower- and middle-class residents, who have sought greener pastures elsewhere. It will also increase prices, which will be passed on to consumers at a time when inflation has become progressively worse.
On top of that, we have this from the New York Times: “David Weil, who under President Barack Obama oversaw the agency that enforces the federal minimum wage, said that … the new council could benefit a broad swath of workers even without additional funding. For example, he said, raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers could increase wages for workers in other sectors, like retail, that compete with fast-food restaurants for labor.”
An annual backdoor hike to the state’s minimum wage courtesy of another permanent governmental regulatory body that will further damage the state’s economy. Is there anything more California than that?
If California Democrats cared as much about cutting costs for residents as they did about controlling each and every industry in the state, maybe the state wouldn’t be bleeding residents. Then again, maybe they wouldn’t be Democrats at all.
