Berkeley, California, $15 Minimum Wage Increase, Measure BB (November 2016)
| Measure BB: Berkeley $15 Minimum Wage Increase |
|---|
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| The basics |
| Election date: |
| November 8, 2016 |
| Status: |
 Defeated
|
| Topic: |
| Local minimum wage |
| Related articles |
| Local minimum wage on the ballot November 8, 2016 ballot measures in California Alameda County, California ballot measures |
| See also |
| Berkeley, California |
A minimum wage increase measure was on the ballot for Berkeley voters in Alameda County, California, on November 8, 2016. It was defeated.
| A yes vote was a vote in favor of increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by October 1, 2019, and according to the Consumer Price Index after that, thereby overruling the compromise passed by the city council. |
| A no vote was a vote against increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour by October 1, 2019, and according to the Consumer Price Index after that, thereby leaving the compromise minimum wage increase passed by the city council and supported by proponents of this measure in place. |
After this initiative and Measure BB were put on the ballot, the city council passed an ordinance that was a compromise between community activists and labor interests and the city council. The deadline to remove measures from the ballot passed, however, before the compromise was reached. Because of that ordinance, the backers of Measure CC and the city council urged voters to vote "no" on both Measure CC and Measure BB since the city council's ordinance would have been superseded.
Election results
| Measure BB | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
| No | 36,063 | 65.94% | ||
| Yes | 18,628 | 34.06% | ||
- Election results from Alameda County Registrar of Voters
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[1]
| “ |
Shall an ordinance: (1) amending the City’s existing minimum wage ordinance to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour for all employees in the City of Berkeley by October 1, 2019, and thereafter by the CPI, with exemptions for youth in job training programs and a $1.50 health benefit credit; (2) requiring that service charges be distributed to the employees who provide the services; and (3) mandating paid sick leave for employees, be adopted? [2] |
” |
Impartial analysis
The following impartial analysis of the measure was prepared by the office of the Berkeley City Attorney:
| “ |
This measure was placed on the ballot by the City Council. This measure would amend Berkeley’s existing minimum wage ordinance (Berkeley Municipal Code Chapter 13.99) in a number of respects. It would increase the hourly minimum wage as follows: October 1, 2017 to $13.25 per hour October 1, 2018 to $14.05 per hour October 1, 2019 to $15.00 per hour In addition, beginning in January 2020, the minimum wage would be increased annually by the same percentage as the increase in the consumer price index for the prior year. The measure would retain existing exemptions for job training participants up to 25 years of age in job training programs operated by nonprofit organizations or governmental agencies, and create an exemption for youth up to 21 years old in job training programs at for-profit employers, but would eliminate the exemption for Welfareto-Work programs. This measure would require that hospitality service charges be distributed to the employees performing services for the customers from whom such charges are collected, without any deduction from those employees’ wages. The measure would allow employers who pay for employee medical benefits to credit up to $1.50 per hour against the minimum wage. The credit would only apply to the minimum wage paid to employees who receive the medical benefit. The credit would be limited to $1.50 per hour even if the medical benefit costs more than that amount. This measure would eliminate provisions for administrative enforcement proceedings before the City Council, but would retain other City enforcement mechanisms, the existing private right of action and the City’s ability to sue employers for injunctive relief and damages. This measure would also require employers to provide paid sick leave to all employees at the rate of 1 hour per every 30 hours worked, as of the commencement of employment or the effective date of the measure, whichever is later. Employees would not be allowed to use sick leave until after 90 days of employment with the employer. The total amount of sick leave that could be accrued would be capped annually at 48 hours. Sick leave could be rolled over from year to year, subject to the 48-hour cap. Sick leave could be used for family members, and spouses, domestic partners or other designated persons. [2] |
” |
| —Berkeley City Attorney[3] | ||
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
This measure was put on the ballot through a vote of the governing officials of Berkeley, California.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Berkeley Local minimum wage. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Alameda County, "November 8, 2016 General Election Local Measures," accessed October 12, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Alameda County, "Measure BB," accessed October 30, 2016
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