Apparently…to become a California State representative you must have a complete junior high course in stacking marbles.
Not only has the state legislature lost their collective minds, but they are also rejoicing in their current blunder. They have voted to raise the minimum wage at by 25% for nearly 500,000 California workers.
Pizza Hut and Round Table have already begun laying off employees.
The legislators’ escape clause focuses on fast food chains with at least 60 locations throughout the country. How long do you think that will last?
Many of these chains are franchised by mom-and-pops. They are not funded by a corporate wallet.
This law was passed by our state legislators and signed by the Governor, most of whom have never owned a business or been required to pay for a business lease, insurance, supplies, employees or inventory.
While real estate is sitting at a standstill, office buildings running at 50% vacancy, legislators are looking to mom-and-pop for a bailout.
The loss of business may lead to these companies going out of business and just may create more of a quagmire. What happens when these legislative gurus don’t get the mom-and-pop revenue they need to feed their spending? They will NOT change this law. They will add more businesses under the higher wage law.
The hardest hit by this recent legislative lunacy? There are over four million small businesses in the brass state, (used to be golden). They employ FIFTY percent of all California workers.
The surviving small businesses or franchises impacted will pass this 25% increase to you. The ripple effect will be like a financial set of stacked dominoes.
To remain competitive, franchise owners will either raise wages or lose their workers to the higher wage-paying competition.
If you thought inflation was an issue the last few years, “You ain’t seen nothing yet!”
The problem we are being subjected to is created by yoyos who have never owned a business, made a payroll, or paid salaries, employee benefits, insurance, lease, and/or franchise payments.
We have operated for decades assured of “no legislation without representation.” Well, that worked reasonably well until we voted in a group of legislators and a French Laundry governor, all out of touch with their constituents, reality and that elusive quality called common sense.
In the short term, until around election time, California may see a marginal increase in tax revenue. However, the reduction of workers, hours and services is already happening. Small businesses are reducing staff, cutting services, closing their doors, moving out of state or hanging on with a smaller staff to offer you an $8 cup of coffee to go…(plus tax)!
Recent Milestones:
Milestones – The Power Switch! – Opinion
Milestones – Simply…Deflect! – Opinion
Milestones – Where Are Our Voters? – Opinion
You are talking about minimum wage going from $33k a year to $41k – before taxes, rent, utilities, food, transportation, childcare. Can a single parent raising two kids within a 2 hour commute of Santa Clara/Sunnyvale live a decent life on that?
I don’t see a single alternative suggestion in this op-ed beyond “legislators should be business owners.” Let’s avoid the inconvenient fact the “French Laundry” governor actually does own businesses and focus on the salient fact that, as least the last time I checked, the government isn’t a business.
Actually, we recently had a business owner as President and saw how well that went – it reminded us that maybe we should have been asking for a President that runs businesses well. And then perhaps we would alap ask, instead of launching into ad hominem attacks on the legislature, whether well-run business can afford to both make a profit AND provide their employees a minimum wage.