In the words of L.A. Times columnist Michael Hiltzik, a few political firms will owe a big thank you to Governor Newsom for signing AB 257, the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act, into law on September 5th. Under the Act, a council would be created that could set wages for fast-food workers up to $22 an hour by 2023. In retaliation (and this is where the “thank you” comes in), the fast-food industry could spend hundreds of millions of dollars to kill it. The restaurant industry has already taken steps to put the law before voters via a ballot proposition. If the industry can collect 633,000 valid voter signatures before the first week of December, then we’re in for a “Whopper” of a fight – placing a ballot proposition on the November 2024 ballot. The collection would also place the Fight for $15 in a “pickle” as the bill would be suspended until the vote. The “Big Mac” daddy fight could make previous corporate spending, that topped $205 million in 2020 by gig companies to pass a measure to circumvent then AB 5, pale in comparison. Letting the law go unchallenged would create a path for similar legislation in other states.
Not So Fast Says Fast-Food!
