Advocates for low-wage workers cheered Tuesday when voters in Alaska and Missouri approved ballot measures that will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and require employers to let workers accrue at least five sick days.
Elsewhere, Nebraska voters approved a measure that will let workers accrue at least five sick days. And Arizona voters rejected a business-backed measure that would have lowered the base wage employers must pay workers who earn tips.
Voters almost always approve ballot measures that ask them if they want to raise the minimum wage. The Alaska and Missouri measures were passed by wide margins while voters also overwhelmingly supported President-elect Trump.
“Generally speaking, voters still want policies that improve job quality and strengthen protections for workers,” said David Cooper, director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, D.C. “That is what we’ve seen virtually anytime a ballot measure on the minimum wage is put forward”
Still, a California measure that would raise the state wage floor to $18 an hour trailed 52%-48% as of Thursday morning, though nearly half the statewide vote is left to count.
And Massachusetts voters rejected a measure that would have raised the state’s tipped minimum wage to match its standard wage floor. Vice President Kamala Harris carried both states by wide margins.
Cooper said industry groups effectively organized to oppose the Massachusetts measure and that some workers who earn tips spoke out against it.
“The industry opposition on the tipped minimum wage piece, in particular, is so vocal, and so adamant, and they’ve been able to mobilize tipped workers to come out against these measures that, by any objective analysis, would be better for them,” he said.
Raising the minimum wage has long divided lawmakers along partisan lines.
Democrats tend to side with unions and anti-poverty groups that support raising the wage floor to increase pay for low-paid workers. Republicans tend to side with business owners, who argue that a higher wage floor will lead to layoffs and economic pain. Most academic studies find that raising the minimum wage has little impact on employment.
Under the Alaska measure, the state minimum wage will reach $15 an hour on July 1, 2027, up from $11.73. Under the Missouri measure, the state minimum wage will reach $15 on Jan. 1, 2026, up from $12.30.
The California measure would gradually raise the state minimum wage to $18 an hour by Jan. 1, 2026, up from $16.
All three measures require the state wage floor to continue to rise with inflation in future years.