Minimum-Wage Boosts, Pot Legalization Advance in State Ballot Measures

Nebraska, Arkansas Vote in Favor of Higher Pay; Antiabortion Initiatives Show Mixed Results

By PETER NICHOLAS
Updated Nov. 5, 2014 3:57 a.m. ET12 COMMENTS

Voters on Tuesday supported a handful of ballot measures increasing the minimum wage, potentially helping proponents make the case that a broad cross-section of the country wants to see the lowest-paid workers get a raise.

South Dakota, Arkansas and Nebraska voters approved ballot measures raising the minimum wage. In Illinois, a nonbinding measure that would raise the minimum wage was also solidly ahead with most precincts counted, according to the Associated Press.

The initiatives were among 147 statewide ballot measures across the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Voters also had their say on measures that proponents hope will create fresh momentum behind efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use and curb abortion, among other issues.

Oregon voters approved a measure to make it legal for stores to sell marijuana for recreational use. In Washington, D.C., a measure passed making it legal to possess and grow marijuana at home. A measure that would legalize marijuana for recreational use in Alaska was maintaining a steady lead in early returns, according to the Associated Press.

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President Barack Obama has been trying without success to persuade Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25. White House officials hope that solid support for the state ballot measures might get the attention of congressional Republicans and spur them to go along.

A minimum-wage increase is also likely to be an issue in the 2016 presidential race, with Democrat Hillary Clinton emerging as a likely proponent.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warns that lifting the minimum wage could harm the very workers proponents want to help. Small businesses might be forced to cut payrolls and switch to automation, said Marc Freedman, a Chamber official. “When you leave a parking garage these days, you are more likely to have to encounter an automated parking system. Those used to be live bodies,” he said. “It’s abundantly clear what’s happening there.”

Supporters contend higher minimum wages would help keep people out of poverty. They say public support is widespread and that elected officials opposing an increase will be punished at the polls.

ENLARGE
Arkansas voters waited to cast their ballots at a fire station in Little Rock, Ark., on Tuesday. DAVID QUINN/ASSOCIATED PRESS


“As the country pivots toward 2016, when even more low-income and younger voters [will take part in the elections], opponents of the minimum wage will recognize there are real costs to blocking increases that voters of every demographic support,” said Paul Sonn, general counsel of the National Employment Law Project, a policy group.

Meanwhile, Californians Tuesday voted down Proposition 46, an initiative that would have raised a cap on medical malpractice awards and required routine drug and alcohol testing for hospital doctors.

With 14% of the state’s precincts reporting, the Associated Press projected the measure would be defeated. The high-spending battle over Prop. 46 pitted two special-interest groups in the state against each other: doctors and trial lawyers.

Lawyers in the state have long sought to raise California’s malpractice cap of $250,000 set by the state’s Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act of 1975. The cap is near the low end among the 35 states that have some ceiling for such damages. Backers of Proposition 46 argued the current amount is outdated, making it hard to bring cases to trial. The measure would have raised the cap to $1.1 million and allowed for inflation adjustments.

The state’s medical and hospital associations opposed the measure and objected to pairing malpractice changes with the doctor drug-testing requirement. Opponents said the campaign for the initiative was misleading.

Major medical malpractice insurers in the state were among the largest contributors to the “no” campaign, which raised $57.5 million, according to MapLight, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that tracks campaign contributions. Proponents of the measure, mostly lawyers, raised $8.5 million to promote the measure.

The initiative also included a third component: requiring medical professionals to check the prescription-drug histories of patients against a state database.

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