Rep. Barbara Lee calls for a $50 minimum wage—do Californians agree?

During last week’s debate for the California seat for the U.S. Senate, Democratic candidate Barbara Lee, a congresswoman representing Oakland, championed a proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $50 per hour as part of her campaign. This hourly wage would amount to a minimum full-time yearly salary of $104,000.

A recent poll found Lee in last place in the race for the Senate seat at 10% of the vote, sitting behind Democrats Adam Schiff (24%) and Katie Porter (19%), as well as Republican Steve Garvey, a former baseball player for the L.A. Dodgers turned businessman, polling at 18%.

Senate candidate Rep. Barbara Lee has a solution to inflation and high prices:

Raise the minimum wage to $50 an hour pic.twitter.com/H5Ema1pGY5

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 13, 2024

The minimum wage in California is currently $16 per hour but is set to rise to $20 per hour on April 1 for all restaurants with at least 60 locations nationwide. As minimum wage continues to rise in California, fast food chains have been forced to raise their prices, with McDonalds recently facing criticism for charging $18 for a Big Mac combo.

Many are predicting that this coming wage increase is likely to raise food costs for consumers and could possibly drive fast food and restaurant chains out of the state.

“This would completely decimate every single business in the state of California,” said celebrity chef and restaurant owner Andrew Gruel in an interview with Fox Business.

.@ChefGruel has weighed in on Rep. Barbara Lee’s (D-Calif.) recent comment about raising the federal minimum wage to $50 per hour—a move the celebrity chef said would “completely decimate every single business in the state of California.”https://t.co/sZLCQmv295

— California Insider News (@CAInsiderNews) February 21, 2024

I took to Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles to find out whether or not California residents support Rep. Barbara Lee’s call for a $50 minimum wage.

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