A ballot initiative to gradually increase California's minimum wage to $15 by 2021 has officially qualified for the Nov. 8 ballot, according to a Reuters report.
Here are six things to know about the initiative.
1. The California Secretary of State's office certified that supporters of the measure, pushed by labor group coalition Lift Up California, had collected the necessary 402,468 signatures for the Fair Wage Act of 2016 to be immediately placed on the ballot.
2. The Fair Wage Act of 2016 would boost the state's minimum wage to $11 in 2017 and then gradually increase it a dollar a year until it reaches $15 in 2021. After 2021, it will automatically be adjusted each year to keep up with the cost of living. California's minimum wage is currently $10 an hour, which amounts to less than $21,000 a year for a full-time worker.
3. Advocates of the ballot initiative contend raising the minimum wage will generate more income tax revenue for state and local government to spend on schools, roads and parks, reduce government spending needed to aid the poor, and grow the economy as the higher wages are spent in workers' communities, according to a news release.
4. But, according to Reuters, the California Chamber of Commerce has said it would oppose any state-wide ballot initiatives for a $15 minimum wage because the chamber believes it would create new costs for state and local governments as well as businesses.
5. A field poll from last year revealed 68 percent of registered California voters support the initiative.
6. If approved by voters, California would become the latest state to raise its minimum wage. Oregon lawmakers approved legislation in February that raised the minimum wage.
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