Denver 7: California's fast food minimum wage could affect other states

Posted at 10:46 AM, Sep 28, 2022

and last updated 6:46 PM, Sep 28, 2022

Fast food chain workers in California could soon be making triple the federal minimum wage, which has received both praise and criticism.

California passed AB 257, also known as the FAST Recovery Act.

It could raise the state minimum wage to $22 an hour in California, but it's more wide-reaching than people realize.

"This is expected to be passed into law in 2023 which could potentially have a significant impact in the entire restaurant industry,” said Riley Lagasen with the Global Restaurant Industry Practice Group.

"The problem is when you increase the wages, the people that are hiring workers shy away from hiring more,” said Kishore Kulkarni, an economics professor at MSU Denver. "Increasing the wage also creates a higher cost of production."