Minimum Wages Make Waves in Midterm Elections

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, voters in four states on Tuesday approved ballot measures to increase the minimum wages paid to the lowest-earning workers in Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota. Illinois also approved a symbolic, non-binding measure that will have no effect on the current law.

In San Francisco, a ballot measure to raise the minimum wage from $10.74 per hour to  $15 in 2018 also passed. The minimum wage in California is currently $9.00 and will increase to $10 by 2016.