On Election Day, voters in Arizona, Colorado and Maine approved measures that will phase in a $12 minimum wage rate by 2020. In Washington State, where the current minimum wage is $9.47 an hour, voters approved increasing the hourly rate to $13.50 by 2020. Prior to the election, each of the four states already had a minimum wage rate above the federal $7.25 per hour, which hasn’t changed since 2009.
In addition to a higher minimum wage rate, the measures in Arizona and Colorado will require employers to provide employees with paid sick days.
Also on Election Day, voters in three California cities—San Francisco, Oakland and Albany—as well as in Boulder, Colorado—approved ballot measures that tax sugary sweetened beverages.
The California cities approved a penny-per-ounce levy on distributors of non-alcoholic drinks with caloric sweeteners, which affects everything from soft drinks to sports drinks, iced tea and energy drinks; while in Boulder, voters approved a 2-cents-per-ounce tax.
Meanwhile, in Chicago’s Cook County, the board of commissioners is slated to vote on a penny-per-ounce tax that also would include beverages with zero-calorie sweeteners like diet soda.
The American Beverage Association says it will continue to work to cut calories from beverages.
“We respect the decision of voters in these cities. Our energy remains squarely focused on reducing the sugar consumed from beverages—engaging with prominent public health and community organizations to change behavior,” the group said on Nov. 9.
