No Fooling: Gov. Newsom’s $20 Minimum Wage Hits April 1

A sign is posted on the exterior of a Round Table pizza restaurant in Albany, Calif., on March 25, 2024. California fast food restaurants are laying off some staff and reducing hours for other workers as they look to cut costs ahead of a California state law that will raise the hourly wage of fast food workers to $20 an hour beginning on April 1. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Commentary

I wish we could call “April fool!” on the $20 minimum wage hitting California fast-food restaurants on April 1. But the wage hike signed into law last September by Gov. Gavin Newsom is really going to hit hard.