Newsom fails again.
California’s far-left governor Gavin Newsom just got caught red-handed. A new bombshell report reveals his $20 minimum wage law for fast food workers has already cost the state thousands of jobs—and the damage is far from over.
According to a recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), California’s fast food industry has lost 18,000 jobs since the state’s wage hike took effect in April 2024. That’s a devastating 3.2% drop in employment, even as the rest of the country’s fast-food sector continues to grow.
Economists Jeffrey Clemens, Olivia Edwards, and Jonathan Meer stated that, based on their central estimate, California’s fast-food industry lost approximately 18,000 jobs compared to what would have occurred without the wage hike.
This comes after California Democrats passed AB 1228, which not only established a new unelected “Fast Food Council,” but also forced restaurants to hike wages from $16 to $20 an hour—effective April 1, 2024. And now, struggling businesses are doing what anyone with common sense could have predicted: cutting jobs to survive.
🔴 California Bleeds Jobs While the Rest of America Grows
The NBER researchers made it clear: this wasn’t part of a national trend—this was caused by Newsom’s policy.
While California’s fast-food jobs plummeted, employment in the same sector across the U.S. grew by 0.1%, showing the rest of the country didn’t face the same consequences.
In fact, the study noted California’s fast-food industry was on par with the rest of the U.S. before the law took effect. But Newsom’s wage mandate changed everything—and not for the better.
💬 Experts Warn: This Is Just the Beginning
Rachel Greszler of the Heritage Foundation didn’t mince words in a recent column:
“Wage controls never work. Policymakers can set laws, but they can’t outlaw the consequences.”
Greszler also warned that cities like Los Angeles—which just approved a plan to raise wages for hotel and airport workers to $30/hour by 2028—are walking straight into a disaster.
And the Wall Street Journal editorial board called out the “magical thinking” behind these wage hikes. They slammed far-left candidates like Zohran Mamdani and even so-called moderates like Andrew Cuomo, saying:
“These guys will never learn because they don’t want to see the world as it really is.”
🔄 Newsom’s Spin Machine Fires Back
In response to the study, Newsom’s office tried to downplay the findings.
His deputy communications director, Tara Gallegos, dismissed the report by pointing to a UC Berkeley study that claimed the wage hike had “no negative effects” and actually increased employment.
But that study only covered data through December 2024—well before many employers had time to make staffing changes or shut down locations. The NBER study used longer-term data—and the results are irrefutable.
📉 The Real Cost of Newsom’s Wage War
- 18,000 jobs lost
- Fast food employment shrinking in California, growing elsewhere
- Businesses forced to raise prices or close doors
- More radical wage hikes on the horizon
Gavin Newsom’s experiment in government price control isn’t helping workers—it’s hurting them. And the ones paying the price are the very people Democrats claim to protect: working families, seniors on fixed incomes, and small business owners trying to stay afloat.
⚠️ BOTTOM LINE
Newsom’s reckless wage mandates are destroying jobs and crippling small businesses—while the national economy moves forward. If this is the model Democrats want for America, conservatives must fight back before it’s too late.
