Ep. 251 - Fast Food Reacts to Minimum Wage Hike

[00:00:00] If you're a California conservative, a libertarian, a moderate Democrat, believe in common sense,

[00:00:11] or just the sane person, this is the political podcast for you.

[00:00:15] It's the California Underground Podcast.

[00:00:27] Thanks for tuning into another episode of the California Underground Podcast.

[00:00:31] I'm your host, Phil, and as always with me, my trusty co-host, the best and fastest researcher in the West.

[00:00:36] Camille, how are you doing?

[00:00:37] Good. Thank you. How are you?

[00:00:38] I'm good. I'm busy at work right now. But we're here now. We're doing a podcast.

[00:00:45] And we'll be talking about minimum wage, which is all.

[00:00:51] That's true. And it's not minimum wage. So this law doesn't affect me.

[00:00:55] But it is the hot button issue right now. I feel like this week, everyone's talking about it because it did go into effect

[00:01:01] April 1st, this new law requiring $20 an hour. We're going to do our best to kind of go through the confusion.

[00:01:10] What's going on? I mean, there's still a lot of confusion.

[00:01:12] Like we're I don't think a lot of people are even sure what's going on really, who's required of it.

[00:01:19] Maybe talk a little bit about Panera gate, what the sort of ramifications to the market are and restaurants and stuff like that.

[00:01:27] But before we begin, I'm going to tell a story.

[00:01:31] And I think I saw this story time anecdotal story time because there's nothing better to prove your argument than anecdotal story time.

[00:01:42] So it was I think a couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were on our way back from Costco.

[00:01:48] Weekday night, you know, you're already at Costco, it takes forever to get through Costco parking and whatever.

[00:01:54] So we're like, oh, we're not going to make dinner. Let's just stop it in and out.

[00:01:58] And so we're like, in and out is fast. It's cheap. We'll just go to in and out.

[00:02:02] We go through. We all order the same thing as always.

[00:02:07] And I look at the receipt and all of a sudden I realize the number that's in my head for what we always order

[00:02:14] is a little bit more. All of a sudden it's four or five dollars more than what it was when we usually go.

[00:02:22] That's a lot more. So what was usually

[00:02:26] $16, $16, $17 went up to $22.

[00:02:30] And I go, oh, that's interesting.

[00:02:32] And we hadn't even really ordered all the normal stuff we get.

[00:02:35] I think I even downgraded usually I get a shake.

[00:02:38] But then I looked up that their shake is like 800 calories.

[00:02:42] I mean, it's delicious.

[00:02:43] Their shake, believe me, just a small shake.

[00:02:44] But then I looked it up how much.

[00:02:48] Well, we could be a hot health podcast just given our, you know, unsupported advice about health.

[00:02:54] We are not professionals.

[00:02:56] But yeah, I looked it up and I was like 800 calories.

[00:02:58] That's weight. That's like two meals.

[00:03:02] Delicious. I said I gave it up anyway.

[00:03:05] I looked at the receipt and I go, wow, $22 now to go to in and out.

[00:03:09] When it used to be around $16, $17 for two people.

[00:03:13] And that includes even a puppy patty for our dog Winnie.

[00:03:16] So I, you know, that's my anecdotal story.

[00:03:21] I don't know if anyone else out there who is watching right now

[00:03:24] has the same kind of story if they want to put that in the chat

[00:03:27] that they've noticed things have been going up.

[00:03:28] But that's going to be like the theme of this episode tonight

[00:03:33] is how is the fast food industry reacting to it?

[00:03:36] Um, before we get started, do you have any anecdotal story time

[00:03:42] about fast food and prices?

[00:03:43] Lots.

[00:03:45] OK, actually now you mentioned Costco.

[00:03:47] My sister texted today.

[00:03:49] I'll help you have a family group text and she texted it.

[00:03:51] I know if Costco is not fast food, but she said.

[00:03:56] I just did my usual shopping at Costco.

[00:03:58] She's very good at her budget.

[00:04:00] Like she has her budget.

[00:04:02] She has her grocery list.

[00:04:03] She meal plans.

[00:04:04] I'm not, I don't like that.

[00:04:06] Like she's like super mom, super wife and she's like it went

[00:04:10] and did my Costco shopping today and cost twice as much.

[00:04:12] But now I do wonder like their food court prices.

[00:04:15] Historically, their hot dog is like people like joke

[00:04:18] like it survives inflation.

[00:04:20] The hot dog drink combo, I think has been a dollar forty

[00:04:23] nine or a dollar fifty forever.

[00:04:25] And now I'm starting to wonder how soon does that go up?

[00:04:28] Because while they're not technically fast food workers,

[00:04:32] like they're going to start to demand higher wages.

[00:04:35] It's going to happen.

[00:04:35] The people weren't, you know, and so now you got me thinking about that.

[00:04:39] But I have thoughts.

[00:04:40] You always ask me if I have thoughts before I go into an episode.

[00:04:43] And this issue, this this bill, Panera gay, all this stuff, you know,

[00:04:50] I think you and I, as soon as this information started to come out,

[00:04:53] I think we both posted about it and certainly other people are

[00:04:55] posting about it, Republicans saying, see, this is bad.

[00:04:58] This is not good.

[00:04:59] And often I know we're guilty of we hear a blurb about a bill

[00:05:03] and we jump on it, we post something and then it would, you know,

[00:05:08] more information comes out over the week.

[00:05:10] And then we're kind of embarrassed when it's like actually that bill

[00:05:13] didn't mean that at all.

[00:05:15] And it didn't say those words and it said this and this is what it meant.

[00:05:17] And we kind of have to like, you know, go back on our like,

[00:05:20] well, we were wrong, that bill, I mean, it doesn't always happen.

[00:05:23] But it happens often enough for like, we jump on it,

[00:05:26] we get all riled up like, what is this?

[00:05:28] We don't want to make posts about it.

[00:05:30] And then we're like, oh, that didn't mean that at all.

[00:05:34] And so I definitely jumped on this bill when we started to hear like the

[00:05:38] Panera thing, I was definitely one to, you know, oh my gosh, what is going on here?

[00:05:44] And even as I was posting about it, I was thinking,

[00:05:47] is this going to be one of those things we're in a few days?

[00:05:50] It's like more information comes out and I'm going to have to be like,

[00:05:52] OK, that's not what it meant.

[00:05:54] Here's what happened.

[00:05:55] No, this gets wilder and more bizarre every single day.

[00:06:02] Like new information has, you know, which we're obviously going to go over all of it.

[00:06:07] And I'm just like, this is a bill that they're going to like in 30 years,

[00:06:11] they're going to write some crazy conspiracy theory movie about, you know,

[00:06:16] we're going to like, they're going to be like, there was this underground

[00:06:18] bunker at the Capitol and this and this and this and like,

[00:06:22] Nichols Cage will be 90 years old, but he'll still be the star of the movie.

[00:06:25] And like, that's how this is seriously.

[00:06:28] It's not weird.

[00:06:30] Yeah. And I think it there's a lot of questions about how it came about.

[00:06:36] We're going to watch a video with some people who had questions about

[00:06:40] how it came about and the A's, how they were involved.

[00:06:43] Obviously, Panera gate, which was the big thing is with Gavin Newsom,

[00:06:46] why was Panera initially exempt from it after he was found that he took

[00:06:52] enormous contributions from the owner of Panera co-owner, owner of Panera,

[00:06:57] which to a lot of people, I mean, yeah, you see the connection.

[00:07:01] You go, well, it makes sense.

[00:07:02] You contribute, you get an exemption.

[00:07:05] Yeah, this bill gets weird and this might be an issue of like

[00:07:11] states like California, Oregon and Washington, the whole West Coast, basically

[00:07:17] loves to pass stuff and figure it out later and see if it works.

[00:07:21] Just last week, we saw that the governor of Oregon

[00:07:25] had signed a law recriminalizing certain drugs because that was Oregon's big thing

[00:07:31] was, oh, we've decriminalized all drugs.

[00:07:33] But in theory, they just made it sound like it was a great idea.

[00:07:38] But then in practice, they saw how bad it got and now they're actually

[00:07:42] going back on it and changing their minds.

[00:07:44] I don't know if they'll happen here.

[00:07:46] I think the unions again are too strong.

[00:07:49] They'll fight for this tooth and nail.

[00:07:52] And, you know, one thing we always say is follow the money and nine times out of 10,

[00:07:58] there's a union behind it because the union always benefits.

[00:08:02] And yeah, so we'll take a look at it now.

[00:08:06] There's a lot to get to today.

[00:08:07] We have a lot of articles, a lot of data and stuff like that.

[00:08:09] But let's start with the bill itself.

[00:08:12] So this is AB number 1228 written by Chris Holden.

[00:08:19] What do we know about Chris Holden is that he is termed out.

[00:08:22] Right. He has gone after this term.

[00:08:24] So yeah, that always seems to be for a very long time.

[00:08:27] He was city council in Pasadena.

[00:08:31] He's not a lot like.

[00:08:35] And usually you see a lot of these crazy wacky bills

[00:08:39] come through people who are termed out.

[00:08:41] Think of a couple years ago.

[00:08:45] Dr. Richard Pan, when he was going there.

[00:08:49] I think Dr. Richard.

[00:08:51] He might be the best example because he was part of that whole.

[00:08:53] What did they call in the vaccine group or something like him?

[00:08:56] Scott Weiner, like the lefties, Kila Weber or whatever.

[00:08:59] The lefty of the lefties.

[00:09:02] A small like that were care.

[00:09:05] We're sorry, I didn't mean moms don't care, but us moms

[00:09:08] that were really paying attention.

[00:09:09] SB 277 back in 2015.

[00:09:12] He was yeah, we are like.

[00:09:14] He was also a part of it.

[00:09:15] Yeah, I think he's actually also running to be mayor of Sacramento.

[00:09:19] So my apologies to Sacramento in advance.

[00:09:21] I feel bad for you that Richard Pan might be your mayor.

[00:09:24] But yeah, this is kind of like the trend of assembly members

[00:09:27] or state senators who are about to be termed out.

[00:09:29] They kind of like go ahead and take the craziest bills.

[00:09:34] And they're like, I'm going to introduce it all author it.

[00:09:37] I don't have to worry about reelection.

[00:09:39] So what the heck do I care?

[00:09:40] Yeah.

[00:09:42] I mean, it does hurt their chances if they're running somewhere else,

[00:09:44] which he's running for county supervisor now.

[00:09:47] So that might hurt him.

[00:09:50] But anyway, I have some highlights here.

[00:09:53] And for those of you who don't know what my day job is,

[00:09:58] I am an attorney.

[00:10:00] I don't know.

[00:10:01] I think so.

[00:10:03] Um, sometimes I think I'm an attorney.

[00:10:07] I'm an attorney by day and I read these bills

[00:10:11] and sometimes I read these bills and I'm like,

[00:10:14] what the heck does any of this mean?

[00:10:15] Because you read a lot of law and you try and figure it out

[00:10:17] and try and parse it apart.

[00:10:19] This law is pretty convoluted and leaves from an attorney

[00:10:23] standpoint, it leaves a lot of gaps.

[00:10:27] And I can see where like labor attorneys and restaurant

[00:10:30] attorney, like people who represent restaurants can look at this and go,

[00:10:33] I have a lot of questions and maybe it doesn't apply to us.

[00:10:36] I can argue it doesn't apply to us.

[00:10:40] One part says this bill would prohibit any city, county or city

[00:10:44] and county from enacting or enforcing any ordinance or regulation

[00:10:49] applicable to fast food restaurant employees that sets the amount of wages

[00:10:52] or salary for faster restaurant employees, except as provided

[00:10:56] by imposing additional requirements on local agencies.

[00:10:59] The bill would impose a state mandated local program.

[00:11:04] Goes on to say for purposes of this part,

[00:11:06] national fast food chain means a set of limited service

[00:11:10] restaurants consisting of more than 60 establishments nationally

[00:11:14] that share a common brand or that are characterized by standardized

[00:11:18] options for decor, marketing, packaging, products and services

[00:11:23] and which are primarily engaged in providing food and beverages

[00:11:26] for immediate consumption on or off premises where patrons

[00:11:29] generally order or select items and pay before consuming

[00:11:34] with limited or no table service.

[00:11:36] For purposes of the definitions in this part, limited service restaurant includes

[00:11:39] but is not limited to an establishment with the North American industry

[00:11:42] classification system code 722513.

[00:11:47] OK, so that fast that part I think is kind of self-explanatory from that you go.

[00:11:55] I feel like I both understood it.

[00:11:56] So, you know, be not attorney by day or night.

[00:12:00] So it's a chain basically Burger King,

[00:12:04] McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, all that stuff that, you know, they're a national brand.

[00:12:07] They have the same decor marketing, all that stuff.

[00:12:10] That would be a fast food restaurant.

[00:12:12] Fast food restaurants shall not include an establishment

[00:12:15] that on September 15, 2023 operates a bakery

[00:12:20] that produces for sale on the establishment's premises bread

[00:12:25] has defined under part 136 of sub chapter B of chapter one

[00:12:29] of title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations

[00:12:34] so long as it continues to operate such a bakery.

[00:12:38] This exemption applies only where the establishment produces for sale

[00:12:42] bread as a standalone menu item and does not apply

[00:12:45] if the bread is available for sale solely as part of another menu item.

[00:12:51] That is where it gets so weird.

[00:12:53] So for those who are not familiar,

[00:12:57] this was the part that news organizations jumped on

[00:13:02] because places like Panera operate a bakery.

[00:13:08] They have a bakery, they make bread and they sell bread.

[00:13:11] You can walk into a Panera and buy bread.

[00:13:13] So even though they meet the classifications of the previous part

[00:13:17] I just read about being a fast food restaurant, you know,

[00:13:20] they have a national brand.

[00:13:21] They're all the same.

[00:13:22] They have the same marketing, packaging, all that stuff.

[00:13:26] If you operate a bakery and sell bread before

[00:13:30] or on September 15th, 2023.

[00:13:32] So this you can't run out and just like open a bakery.

[00:13:34] You can't just be like, oh, I'm going to open a bakery right now.

[00:13:38] They were at least smart enough to be like, if we leave this too wide open,

[00:13:41] everyone in the world is going to start opening bakeries

[00:13:44] and start selling bread.

[00:13:44] We're selling bread, which I have story about that.

[00:13:48] But finish what you're saying because I want to add something.

[00:13:52] Yeah, so this is the clause that got Newsom in trouble

[00:13:56] because of the Panera connection between the owner and the contributions he received.

[00:14:02] It's odd.

[00:14:02] It's odd that there was a specific carve out for a bakery such as this.

[00:14:07] It almost looks like if you describe to someone and said,

[00:14:14] OK, you're trying to describe Panera bread, but you don't remember the name.

[00:14:19] You're like, well, it's kind of like a fast food place.

[00:14:21] You go in for lunch.

[00:14:23] You know, they have a whole bunch of them.

[00:14:24] It's a national brand and they sell bread and like they're known for their bread.

[00:14:29] Like people go, oh, it's Panera.

[00:14:31] So if you read this definition and you go to a fast food restaurant

[00:14:35] that operates a bakery and sells bread, the first person you think of is Panera.

[00:14:40] I can't think of any other fast food restaurant that really does.

[00:14:44] I mean, Jersey Mike's technically bakes their bread.

[00:14:48] Do they get any exemption?

[00:14:50] Similar to Panera.

[00:14:52] So Corner Bakery is another one.

[00:14:54] But like Panera is the biggest one.

[00:14:55] So it just seems odd.

[00:14:57] I've been a Panera choice in my life and I only ate there one of those times.

[00:15:01] And I thought they were so disgusting.

[00:15:02] So I don't know.

[00:15:03] I'm actually very familiar with them.

[00:15:05] Hot take.

[00:15:07] I hate Panera bread.

[00:15:09] I think it's disgusting.

[00:15:11] So if anyone in the chair, Panera is disgusting.

[00:15:15] If anyone in the chat is going to.

[00:15:16] So Panera will not be.

[00:15:19] Panera will not be sponsored in this podcast.

[00:15:21] Many times.

[00:15:22] Spock.

[00:15:25] Yeah, I just don't get Panera.

[00:15:26] I'm sorry. Every time I've tried it, it's expensive.

[00:15:29] It has no flavor.

[00:15:30] I just don't get it.

[00:15:31] The sandwiches are horrible anyway.

[00:15:36] So yeah, that's the Panera bread exemption.

[00:15:39] It's a weird exemption.

[00:15:42] OK, but you mentioned Jersey Mike's.

[00:15:44] So I want to say something about this because

[00:15:46] yeah, weird fact about me that

[00:15:49] now everyone's going to be like, wow, what is wrong with you?

[00:15:52] I am not a foodie and I am very, very, very picky.

[00:15:55] And I like plain food.

[00:15:57] And I if I get a they could go to somewhere

[00:16:02] like a Jersey Mike's and get a turkey sandwich.

[00:16:04] It's turkey and bread only.

[00:16:08] OK. No mayonnaise, no mustard, no cheese.

[00:16:12] Sometimes there's bacon.

[00:16:12] No likes way.

[00:16:13] Like like it's nothing.

[00:16:16] Like I'm like turkey bread and they'll be like, but no,

[00:16:19] turkey and bread, turkey and bread.

[00:16:21] OK, so my husband and this is how I've always been.

[00:16:25] Oddly enough, I started like literally this week,

[00:16:27] started craving mayonnaise and mustard.

[00:16:29] Went to Jersey Mike's and got a sandwich man.

[00:16:31] He is a mustard.

[00:16:32] Nothing to do with the story.

[00:16:33] But anyway, my entire life, I'm in my forties,

[00:16:35] my entire life.

[00:16:36] This is how I've eaten my sandwiches, if you can call them that.

[00:16:39] So my husband being the frugal man that he is

[00:16:42] would like, I think our first day,

[00:16:45] I ate a sandwich like that and he still dated me, but whatever.

[00:16:48] He figured out after we got married, love right there.

[00:16:51] I'm going to start like if we go in, I'll just be like,

[00:16:54] oh, can you put some extra turkey on there?

[00:16:56] And then and then he'd be like, oh, can I just buy some bread separate?

[00:17:01] And they always let him so he would basically pay like 50 cents

[00:17:03] for some bread and then like throw the extra turkey back.

[00:17:06] Here's your sandwich. OK.

[00:17:08] So, um, technically,

[00:17:11] we've done that at like Togo's and Jersey Mike's.

[00:17:14] We don't like it's not really a thing.

[00:17:17] Eventually I got my own sandwich, but he would try it.

[00:17:19] Thank you. And they would allow him to.

[00:17:21] So technically, all these years ago,

[00:17:25] they were selling their bread separate and I know from experience.

[00:17:30] They did it so we do, but I don't want to give a subway shout out

[00:17:32] because subway is also disgusting and I never wanted either.

[00:17:34] But I have Jersey Mike's all the way.

[00:17:37] Jersey Mike's is king.

[00:17:39] I have to write by now.

[00:17:40] So I'm like, yes, it's where I go.

[00:17:43] It's always our go to.

[00:17:44] It's always our go to.

[00:17:46] I remember when I was little,

[00:17:47] I used to go to the original Jersey Mike's in New Jersey.

[00:17:50] But anyway, we're getting way off topic here.

[00:17:52] Not about this isn't Jersey Mike's podcast.

[00:17:56] Thanks for this.

[00:17:58] What's that?

[00:17:59] They will take a Jersey Mike sponsorship any day of the week.

[00:18:02] We'll barter.

[00:18:03] I'll barter for free sandwiches.

[00:18:04] I'll talk about Jersey Mike's if you give me free sandwiches.

[00:18:08] All right.

[00:18:08] So this other part of the bill is weird as well.

[00:18:12] When a restaurant is located and operates within a grocery

[00:18:16] establishment is defined in subdivision D of section 2502.

[00:18:22] Then the grocery establishment employer employs the individuals

[00:18:25] working in the restaurant.

[00:18:26] The restaurant shall not be considered a fast food restaurant.

[00:18:30] OK, I thought that was weird too.

[00:18:34] Why play?

[00:18:36] I'm trying to think of any places that have fast food.

[00:18:38] You know, most of the grocery stores have Starbucks,

[00:18:41] but I don't know a lot of Starbucks.

[00:18:44] Yeah, I think of like a fast food restaurant, maybe in major cities.

[00:18:47] There's big grocery stores, maybe some Walmart.

[00:18:50] Oh, Walmart also has grocery stores and McDonald's.

[00:18:55] Oh, yeah.

[00:18:56] So if you work at the McDonald's and Walmart,

[00:18:59] you don't get twenty dollars an hour.

[00:19:02] OK. Interesting.

[00:19:06] So this new fast food council will be comprised of two representatives

[00:19:10] of the fast food restaurant industry, two representatives of fast food restaurant.

[00:19:13] I'm sorry. Sorry.

[00:19:14] New it's a new fast food council.

[00:19:17] I think it's the new fast food.

[00:19:18] This is what they're proposing.

[00:19:20] Like I mean, is there a new council or they're just for.

[00:19:24] No, I think it's this is the new council that they're starting up.

[00:19:28] I didn't I never thought that before.

[00:19:30] OK, so new government something fast food council is here by a

[00:19:35] established, so that leads me to believe it hasn't been

[00:19:38] priorly in existence established.

[00:19:42] Two representatives of the fast food restaurant industry, two representatives

[00:19:45] of the fast food restaurant franchisees or restaurant owners,

[00:19:47] two representatives of fast food restaurant employees,

[00:19:50] two representatives of advocates for fast food restaurant employees

[00:19:54] like Union bosses, one unaffiliated member of the public who is not an

[00:19:58] owner, franchisee officer or employee in the fast food industry

[00:20:02] who is not an employee or officer of a labor organization

[00:20:05] or a member of a labor organization representing fast food restaurant employees

[00:20:08] and who was not received income from the fast food industry

[00:20:10] or any labor organization for a period of two years prior to appointment.

[00:20:14] So that just proves my point that the advocates are going to be labor

[00:20:18] organizations, could you imagine the one person just gets appointed

[00:20:21] to this council and they're like, I have nothing to do with fast food?

[00:20:23] Like why am I sitting on this council?

[00:20:27] But they probably get paid a pretty good amount.

[00:20:29] As the governor gets to appoint all these people.

[00:20:33] Okay, so here's the part about the minimum wage, the hourly minimum

[00:20:36] wage for fast food restaurant employees shall be $20 per hour.

[00:20:41] Effective April 1st 2024.

[00:20:44] Still took a joke.

[00:20:46] What?

[00:20:47] Oh, it's an April Fool's joke that actually went up to 20.

[00:20:49] Thereafter, the council may establish pursuant to this subdivision

[00:20:53] minimum wages for fast food restaurant employees that take effect

[00:20:56] on an annual basis beginning on January 1st 2025.

[00:21:00] So this is the baseline.

[00:21:03] 20 is the base, so it only goes up from here.

[00:21:06] So if you think 20, they're going to stop at $20 an hour.

[00:21:09] They're not stopping $20 an hour.

[00:21:11] It's going to go up even more.

[00:21:13] Goes on to say the hourly minimum wage established by the council

[00:21:16] may increase on an annual basis by no more than the lesser

[00:21:19] of the following rounded to the nearest 10 cents.

[00:21:23] 3.5%.

[00:21:25] Which is a pretty big jump.

[00:21:27] That's usually the rate of races that people get.

[00:21:31] The rate of change and the averages of most recent July 1st to June 30th

[00:21:35] inclusive period over the preceding July 1st to July June 30th inclusive

[00:21:40] period for the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics

[00:21:44] nonseasonally adjusted United States consumer price index for urban

[00:21:49] wage earners and clerical workers.

[00:21:52] So whichever is the lesser of the two.

[00:21:55] So it's going to go up.

[00:21:57] So to all those people out there who think we're stopping at 20,

[00:22:01] think again, it's only going to go up from here next year.

[00:22:04] It'll probably go up 3.5% or whatever the CPI says.

[00:22:07] And yeah, away we go.

[00:22:10] This is just the start of your more expensive burger.

[00:22:13] A friend of mine actually texts me the other day and he's like,

[00:22:15] Hey, I heard you're paying fast food people $20 an hour.

[00:22:20] And he said, enjoy those $25 burgers.

[00:22:23] I'm like, ain't that the truth, man?

[00:22:25] Can't even go to In-N-Out and enjoy that anymore.

[00:22:30] So there is this really helpful video by one of the best journalists

[00:22:34] in California, in my opinion, which is probably one of the most hard

[00:22:37] hitting she actually.

[00:22:39] I would say she actually puts people in Sacramento on notice,

[00:22:44] which a lot of journalists don't do.

[00:22:46] So Ashley Zavella of KCRA.

[00:22:51] She did a really good job.

[00:22:52] She put this video together.

[00:22:53] So we're going to take a little look at this video.

[00:22:55] We'll talk about it and we'll talk about some other statistics after that.

[00:23:01] So let me pull this up.

[00:23:08] Here we go.

[00:23:11] Look at some of the impacts, Ashley.

[00:23:14] Eddie, those impacts are felt most by the local business owners.

[00:23:18] When people hear about this new law, they might think

[00:23:20] it's giant corporations versus workers.

[00:23:23] But as we've been reporting, it's not that simple.

[00:23:25] Those caught in the middle of this are the franchisees, the local owners

[00:23:29] of one, a handful or in some cases hundreds of restaurants.

[00:23:33] They are the ones footing the bill for the new minimum wage on top

[00:23:37] of the other costs they have to pay.

[00:23:39] But tonight those business owners are speaking out about being

[00:23:42] left out of the making of this law.

[00:23:44] So.

[00:23:48] Workers wrapping whoppers are now making twenty dollars an hour.

[00:23:52] We employ about six thousand people across the state all the way up

[00:23:55] from Reading Down to Beaver's Well.

[00:23:57] Harsh guy is California.

[00:23:59] Side note, I think the whoppers severely underrated.

[00:24:02] Fantastic burger.

[00:24:05] I don't eat a burger.

[00:24:05] Just my thoughts.

[00:24:07] I haven't I haven't ate a burger in a king in a while.

[00:24:10] My wife doesn't like Burger King, so I might have to wait until she

[00:24:13] goes and travels for work again or something.

[00:24:15] And I'll treat myself to a nice double.

[00:24:18] Twenty to twenty five dollar whopper.

[00:24:21] Yeah, I'll go pay twenty five dollars for a whopper.

[00:24:24] California's largest operator of Burger King restaurants.

[00:24:27] His franchise group owns two hundred total fast food restaurants on the West

[00:24:31] Coast, including some Taco Bell and Popeyes locations.

[00:24:34] My dad started twenty five years ago with one Burger King in San Jose,

[00:24:38] California, I used to run it himself, work there, open to close.

[00:24:42] Started building restaurants, creating jobs.

[00:24:45] And then when I came out of high school, I started working with him and work my way

[00:24:49] through his business for college as well and eventually became a franchising myself.

[00:24:53] Grappling with California's new fast food labor law,

[00:24:56] Guy says his business is doing its best to have an open line of communication

[00:25:00] with workers. I'll walk you over here real quick.

[00:25:02] He showed us where he displays important signage of his workers rights.

[00:25:06] It's in front of their workspace.

[00:25:08] He says with the new law, menu prices will likely rise at his restaurants

[00:25:13] and some closures are coming.

[00:25:15] If you're if you listen to audio, you can't see what just happened.

[00:25:19] But what did you notice when he's what he was just standing in front of?

[00:25:25] Oh, I didn't.

[00:25:27] So sorry.

[00:25:28] It was it was a kiosk that was not a person taking your order.

[00:25:33] It's a kiosk where the cashiers are.

[00:25:35] So you walk up and you blink, blink, blink.

[00:25:38] Coming, we did, however, close eight restaurants last year because of

[00:25:43] profitability issues across the state.

[00:25:45] And we anticipate closing at least six more restaurants.

[00:25:48] The consequences of the new law, something Guy tried to avoid.

[00:25:53] He says workers in his industry were an easy target for the powerful labor

[00:25:57] group that pushed it, the SCIU.

[00:25:59] I think part of the reason is that we have tens of thousands of fast food

[00:26:03] restaurants across the state.

[00:26:04] Most of them, about 80 percent actually are owned by single unit operators.

[00:26:08] So it's very difficult for people who own one restaurant or two restaurants to

[00:26:12] actually be able to have a voice and fight some of these things.

[00:26:16] And ultimately, they cut us out of the negotiations and the conversation.

[00:26:22] I learned on a Saturday morning that this was being signed on Monday morning.

[00:26:26] And when I found out about it and asked our brands and the lobbyists

[00:26:31] that have been working on their behalf, how this happened, we were told that it

[00:26:35] happened was under that they were all under a non-disclosure agreement and that

[00:26:39] they weren't allowed to talk about it.

[00:26:40] There were some people in the room that were representing our best interests,

[00:26:43] apparently, but there were no franchisees and no employers that were

[00:26:47] actually involved in those conversations.

[00:26:49] So when you asked how is this happening,

[00:26:51] they basically told you we can't really say because we use non-disclosure.

[00:26:55] I was specifically told that that a non-disclosure agreement was in place

[00:26:59] and that we work a lot to know about it.

[00:27:02] Who?

[00:27:03] That might be the most.

[00:27:05] I mean, there's a lot of weird things of how this bill passed,

[00:27:07] but that might be one of the weirdest and shadiest parts of how this passed.

[00:27:11] Oh, shady.

[00:27:13] Aren't we?

[00:27:15] Isn't it always the Democrats who are like, oh, you know,

[00:27:18] democracy dies in the dark.

[00:27:19] Yes.

[00:27:21] And this is quite literally this is the darkness.

[00:27:25] This guy had no input.

[00:27:27] He couldn't contact anybody.

[00:27:28] He couldn't contact his representative and say, hey, I own how many restaurants.

[00:27:32] I'm really opposed to this.

[00:27:34] It'll hurt my business.

[00:27:35] They were just like, no, we can't talk about it.

[00:27:38] We can't tell you how this happened.

[00:27:39] We can't tell you what where it came from.

[00:27:41] It just popped up.

[00:27:42] Here we are.

[00:27:43] And I don't see how that is.

[00:27:45] I mean, again, I'm not an attorney, but I don't see how

[00:27:50] a bill in California where we have the rights to vote,

[00:27:56] you know, for our elected leaders and then they're supposed to have these

[00:27:59] meetings out in the open that we often can watch, can go see in person.

[00:28:05] And then they did this closed door thing, shut everyone out and then actually

[00:28:09] signed nondisclosure agreements because they're like, no, you can't know anything

[00:28:12] about it. We're not going to answer your questions.

[00:28:14] I don't see how that's legal.

[00:28:15] I don't see how any of this legally stand.

[00:28:19] I don't really know either.

[00:28:20] I know Vince Fong introduced a bill to get rid of such NDAs,

[00:28:24] but it's astonishing to me that the party of we have to save democracy

[00:28:29] and democracy dies in the darkness and blah, blah, blah.

[00:28:32] We have to fight for democracy.

[00:28:34] And then they do things like this and they just completely push people,

[00:28:38] the people out and they don't give them a voice in any of this process.

[00:28:42] Another interesting thing that I want to comment on before we keep watching.

[00:28:47] There's so many people on social media, on Reddit and stuff you see

[00:28:52] reacting to this law.

[00:28:54] And their first response is, you know, well, McDonald's and Burger King are

[00:28:59] like billions of dollars.

[00:29:00] So like they can afford it like they can afford to pay people $20 an hour.

[00:29:04] And they don't understand the business model that is these franchisees.

[00:29:09] Yeah. Right.

[00:29:11] In and out, for example, is owned by one family.

[00:29:14] They don't franchise.

[00:29:15] They own every single internet.

[00:29:18] Burger King, McDonald's, Taco Bell, a lot of these places,

[00:29:22] they are franchise companies.

[00:29:25] Meaning if you're a business owner and you're like, hey, I want to open a restaurant,

[00:29:30] but you don't want to come up with the menu and you don't want to come up with

[00:29:34] a concept and you want to do anything like that.

[00:29:36] But you're like, hey, I could buy the rights to open a Burger King or a

[00:29:40] McDonald's and they'll give me everything as long as you pay for everything.

[00:29:43] They'll give you the equipment.

[00:29:44] They'll give you the training materials.

[00:29:46] Everything soup to nuts is done for you.

[00:29:48] Right.

[00:29:49] So you don't have to do that process.

[00:29:51] Like that's the whole idea of this is like you don't have to start your own

[00:29:54] restaurant, you could just basically buy a restaurant and run it yourself.

[00:29:58] You're still on the hook as a business owner individually.

[00:30:03] That is your individual business.

[00:30:06] Right.

[00:30:06] While they think, oh, Burger King or McDonald's, they have billions of dollars

[00:30:09] and they make so much money.

[00:30:11] Think of it, it's still a mom and pop place for a lot of these places.

[00:30:15] A lot of these single franchisee owners.

[00:30:18] This is their business.

[00:30:19] And if they don't keep up and they don't balance their books and they don't make

[00:30:24] a profit and they can't keep up, this is a lot of times they'll require

[00:30:29] you to buy equipment that has to be brought in because they're doing part

[00:30:32] of a special or whatever.

[00:30:34] It's tough.

[00:30:36] And I don't think people realize that.

[00:30:38] So all the people out there who are like saying, all these corporations have

[00:30:42] billions of dollars, they can afford to pay people will try dollars an hour.

[00:30:46] It's not that's not really how it works.

[00:30:48] They just don't understand the business model at all.

[00:30:51] Any thoughts about that?

[00:30:54] Yeah, I agree.

[00:30:56] OK, let's keep watching.

[00:30:59] Who is it under your understanding?

[00:31:02] Who was it that wanted the NDAs to be signed?

[00:31:05] I honestly am not entirely sure.

[00:31:08] I was told at one point that the governor's office was requiring NDAs.

[00:31:12] I've also been told other points that the SEIU, I would say it's the SEIU

[00:31:17] just because of the fact that since then they've employed in more tactics.

[00:31:21] So they're trying to pass further legislation in the cities.

[00:31:24] San Jose, for example, and we are not able to sit down and actually talk to the

[00:31:29] people who are trying to pass these ordinances, nor are we able to discuss

[00:31:35] with the city council members as to what they were what they're being asked to introduce.

[00:31:39] You don't want to have to hire lobbyists and lawyers, but you have.

[00:31:44] Right? I mean, recently,

[00:31:45] because of this, I mean, is that the direction operators have to go in at this

[00:31:51] point is to get more engaged with the legislature to push back against other groups?

[00:31:56] Basically, absolutely.

[00:31:58] I have to pay a lot to this work on my behalf and speak on our behalf,

[00:32:02] because those are the people that are being led into these conversations.

[00:32:05] That's less money that could be going towards programs for my employees.

[00:32:08] That's less money that I could be paying my employees.

[00:32:10] That's less vacation time that we could be giving our team members and our

[00:32:14] workers, so we don't want to have to deal with that.

[00:32:16] We want to work hand in hand with our workers.

[00:32:19] We want to have sit downs with them directly and we want to be able to make

[00:32:22] their lives better and improve their working conditions by sitting with them.

[00:32:26] Why does SCI you keep putting workers who have been wronged at the forefront of this?

[00:32:30] I mean, how would you respond to what they claim is an industry that might

[00:32:36] have this pervasiveness of mistreating its workers?

[00:32:38] Look, I think that unfortunate issues happen in every industry and they

[00:32:44] should absolutely be addressed head on and we should be we should be able to sit

[00:32:48] down with those employees and those workers and figure out the solution.

[00:32:51] Still, it's problems ourselves.

[00:32:53] How do you describe your relationship with your employees?

[00:32:56] Our employees are the backbone of our business and

[00:32:59] we're going to do everything in our power to improve our relationships with them.

[00:33:03] Over the last several years, we've implemented a lot of different things

[00:33:06] in our organization, for example, I have a couple of people in my office

[00:33:10] that constantly monitor breaks, time clock adjustments.

[00:33:14] I want to skip ahead a little bit.

[00:33:16] There's something else she talked about that I want to

[00:33:21] go over.

[00:33:23] So.

[00:33:24] That the main take in speaking with the legislative secretary was

[00:33:31] where not in, we're not out and the deciding factor seems to be the fast

[00:33:38] food council, they she did mention that the governor's.

[00:33:42] So for those who are not watching, this is somebody who's a handles ice cream

[00:33:47] franchise either.

[00:33:49] You guys have handles up in Orange County?

[00:33:51] Yes, one like Brighton nearest last year.

[00:33:55] Oh, OK.

[00:33:56] Yes.

[00:33:57] I know they're big down here in San Diego.

[00:33:59] So I guess they are franchising now.

[00:34:02] But yeah, she's she's talking about this because ice cream parlors

[00:34:06] are one of those things that falls kind of in a gray area.

[00:34:09] They don't have bread, but maybe ice cream is the exception.

[00:34:13] I don't know the cones.

[00:34:14] I mean, it's sweet bread.

[00:34:16] Cones are bread.

[00:34:17] I don't know.

[00:34:18] Appointed the fast food council and it's up to them to make the decision

[00:34:23] along with the Department of Industrial Relations.

[00:34:26] Where do you go from here?

[00:34:28] That's the million dollar question, probably literally that we all want to know

[00:34:32] today's April 1st, the implementation of the bill is today, whether or not

[00:34:37] that we stay at 16 or go to the 20 and it's still as ambiguous as it was

[00:34:42] when I started this five months ago.

[00:34:45] Now.

[00:34:46] OK, anything else I want to talk about?

[00:34:50] Um, yeah, we'll do it.

[00:34:52] Three years ago, this bill was first introduced back in 2021 on January 15th

[00:34:58] of that year again.

[00:35:00] This is what I want to talk about.

[00:35:01] The woman Lorena Gonzalez introduced a B.

[00:35:04] Shocker.

[00:35:08] If you don't remember Lorena Gonzalez,

[00:35:11] notorious, uh, lackey for the unions in California.

[00:35:16] Hey, she's made a good career being a union lackey,

[00:35:22] union laptop as an assembly woman and now as the head of a big union as president.

[00:35:28] So she introduced this back in 2021.

[00:35:31] I keep talking about it.

[00:35:32] Two five seven.

[00:35:33] It was called the Fast Recovery Act.

[00:35:35] A year later, Gonzalez would resign from the assembly to lead the California

[00:35:39] Labor Federation. Her bill would be taken over by Democratic

[00:35:42] Assemblyman from Pasadena, Chris Holden.

[00:35:44] The main concept of the bill was to establish a statewide council to set wages

[00:35:49] and working conditions for fast food workers in September of that same year.

[00:35:52] The bill passed the state legislature and was signed into law by Governor

[00:35:56] Gavin Newsom. The governor had this to say about the new law at the time.

[00:36:01] I'm proud of the men and women of organized labor, particularly on Labor Day.

[00:36:05] For their extraordinary work over the course of decades to empower workers,

[00:36:09] to give them voice and choice in a fight not just for wages,

[00:36:12] but better working conditions.

[00:36:14] But the passage of that bill was just the start of what would become a

[00:36:18] complicated and controversial negotiation process.

[00:36:21] The fast food industry was heavily against it and immediately launched a

[00:36:25] statewide referendum.

[00:36:27] So in December of 2022, a judge put the law on hold as it went

[00:36:32] through the next month, the referendum had enough signatures to let voters decide

[00:36:37] the fast food industry raised seventy one point eight million dollars to fight

[00:36:42] the law that triggered a response by the state legislature and governor

[00:36:45] who started to mount a fight to enact the law anyway.

[00:36:49] In twenty twenty three, a law known as A.B.

[00:36:51] twelve twenty eight was proposed to require fast food corporations to share

[00:36:55] workplace liability with their franchisees.

[00:36:57] There was also an effort by the governor and lawmakers to bring back

[00:37:00] the industrial welfare commission.

[00:37:03] The goal of that was to get the commission to regulate the fast food industry anyway.

[00:37:07] Then came the big announcement day on September 11th of twenty twenty three

[00:37:11] just over a year after the original bill was signed into law.

[00:37:14] The fast food industry, SCIU and Governor

[00:37:17] Newsom's office and the legislature announced a deal.

[00:37:20] That deal ended efforts for the joint liability bill.

[00:37:23] It ended efforts to bring back the industrial welfare commission.

[00:37:27] And in exchange, the fast food industry agreed to pull its referendum off

[00:37:31] the ballot that would have been on the ballot this year.

[00:37:33] They agreed to keep the fast food council

[00:37:35] in place and raise the minimum wage to twenty dollars an hour starting today.

[00:37:40] It was the third to last day of California's legislative session.

[00:37:44] So things had to move very fast after that deal.

[00:37:46] The Senate approved the bill the same day with just one Republican voting.

[00:37:50] No. The next day it had a second hearing with no opposition.

[00:37:54] OK, we don't need more of the history.

[00:37:56] I am so disappointed by this.

[00:37:59] This is one she calls out Governor Newsom for Panera bread.

[00:38:03] That exempts bakeries, essentially,

[00:38:06] places that sell and bake bread on site.

[00:38:09] So carving out essentially Panera and Boudin.

[00:38:12] I wonder, I mean, what why did in the agreement that you all decide that those

[00:38:17] workers should not be within the umbrella of this?

[00:38:21] I mean, as part of the sausage making, it was part of two fifty seven,

[00:38:23] the original bill, and we went back and forth.

[00:38:25] And there was part of the negotiation.

[00:38:27] It's the nature of negotiation.

[00:38:30] Part of the part of it makes sense.

[00:38:34] Part of the sausage making.

[00:38:35] That's what a what a slimy answer of like, well, I'm not going to tell you why.

[00:38:40] I'm just going to.

[00:38:42] I'm just going to tell you as part of the sausage making,

[00:38:44] you don't understand, Ashley.

[00:38:47] We're not going to tell you why Panera bread gets an exemption.

[00:38:50] I mean, we all know why Panera bread got an exemption.

[00:38:52] But all right.

[00:38:55] Wouldn't you be like if you were a Panera bread employee,

[00:38:59] wouldn't you be like, why don't I deserve like if if this is all about a living wage

[00:39:05] and people need to make more money?

[00:39:07] How come I don't deserve this raise this minimum wage?

[00:39:12] I would feel like that making bread a lot of work.

[00:39:15] Like it's hard baking bread.

[00:39:17] It's not like I would think that those would be the first people to get this

[00:39:21] raise because it's like you're making bread.

[00:39:25] You're not just like

[00:39:27] standing there flipping burgers, no offense to anyone flipping burgers.

[00:39:31] I just make bread is tough to make time.

[00:39:36] Hands up like there's a scale involved.

[00:39:38] It's it's a acquired skill.

[00:39:41] I can't make bread.

[00:39:43] I love to cook.

[00:39:44] I can't make bread.

[00:39:45] I can't bake anything unless it comes out of a box with easy instructions.

[00:39:49] All right, let's talk about.

[00:39:51] So this is all going into place.

[00:39:53] We've got a little background about how this came into being the shadiness,

[00:39:58] the backdoor deals, the backroom deals, all that stuff.

[00:40:02] I want to talk a little bit about the response of the industry of what's

[00:40:07] going to happen.

[00:40:09] You had sent me some stuff in terms of oh, there is another thing I really

[00:40:13] want to talk about really quickly.

[00:40:15] Chris Holden, you had pointed this out and again, follow the money.

[00:40:19] SEIU, who they mentioned in that past video.

[00:40:22] So SEIU United Healthcare Workers donated seven thousand two hundred dollars

[00:40:27] to Chris Holden.

[00:40:30] SEIU, again, United Healthcare Workers donated twenty five hundred.

[00:40:34] Again, United Healthcare Workers donated nineteen thousand,

[00:40:37] nineteen thousand four hundred to Chris Holden.

[00:40:40] Stopped knowing how much money from twenty one to twenty two was donated to him

[00:40:46] from labor unions when I hit like a hundred and sixty thousand for that year.

[00:40:53] SEIU Local 2015 State Pack, ninety seven hundred.

[00:40:59] United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local Seven Seventy Pack donated twenty

[00:41:03] five hundred. So you can say, I mean, follow the money.

[00:41:07] It makes sense why he American Beverage Association California donated a thousand

[00:41:11] dollars. So yeah, you can see why would he support a bill like this?

[00:41:16] Well, because he gets a lot of money from unions who support this bill.

[00:41:19] So this is from the restaurant Realty Company.

[00:41:23] This is their outlook for twenty three twenty three and twenty twenty four.

[00:41:29] They talked about what they're going to be facing in these next coming years

[00:41:33] and it goes on to say California restaurant industry as always and continue

[00:41:38] to be challenging.

[00:41:40] It's a good way to sum it up if you're a restaurant owner.

[00:41:43] In other words, if they increase their menu prices too aggressively,

[00:41:46] they'll price their customers out of the market as the customer is demanding

[00:41:49] price value in twenty twenty three.

[00:41:51] All food prices have increased at least five point nine percent.

[00:41:56] So this is on top of the fact that there's inflation.

[00:41:59] Operating costs are going up.

[00:42:01] Everything's starting to cost more.

[00:42:03] And then you throw on top of it this twenty dollars an hour.

[00:42:07] It's starting to look a little harder to run a restaurant.

[00:42:10] Additionally, the economy is plagued with high interest rates that have increased

[00:42:13] over five points in the past 12 months.

[00:42:15] This makes it tough for restaurant buyers to obtain reasonable interest rate

[00:42:18] loans for purchases as well as for operators who want to borrow funds

[00:42:21] to do the necessary remodeling of their clients are required.

[00:42:25] So this is a survey they took only 16 percent of the nation's restaurants

[00:42:29] expect profits to increase in twenty twenty three with 50 percent bracing

[00:42:32] to make less money than they did the year because of soaring expenses.

[00:42:36] Not a good outlook.

[00:42:37] Usually that's not a good.

[00:42:38] I think restaurant spending is a good economic indicator of how well your

[00:42:43] economy is doing, because if restaurants are booming.

[00:42:48] What does that tell you?

[00:42:48] People have disposable income.

[00:42:50] They're going out more.

[00:42:51] They don't they're not being so frugal and tightening the purse strings.

[00:42:57] So if they're if the restaurant industry is expecting that they're not going to make

[00:43:00] money, that's not usually a good time.

[00:43:03] The survey also designated a third

[00:43:05] inflationary culprit to add to the big two of labor and food cost energy expenses.

[00:43:09] The research revealed the operators are adjusting to the tougher cost

[00:43:13] environment in dramatic fashion.

[00:43:16] More than a third, for instance, have delayed expansion and 13 percent

[00:43:19] have stopped using third party delivery services.

[00:43:22] Roughly nine out of ten operator respondents describe soaring food

[00:43:26] labor costs as significant challenges for the next 12 months.

[00:43:29] Eighty seven percent of US restaurants have raised menu prices.

[00:43:32] Thirty two percent are now closing on days they were formally open.

[00:43:34] Forty eight percent have trimmed hours on days when they are open.

[00:43:37] Thirty eight percent of the host home plan development because of high interest rates.

[00:43:41] That's not a good outlook for restaurants.

[00:43:43] That sounds like it sounds horrible.

[00:43:46] It sounds really bad.

[00:43:48] Doesn't sound like they're expanding.

[00:43:49] Doesn't sound like they're hiring.

[00:43:50] Sounds like they are in a retraction mode right now.

[00:43:54] They are bracing for impact in restaurant land.

[00:43:58] This is from Nations Restaurant News.

[00:44:00] El Pollo Local Holdings is looking to technology in the form of kiosks.

[00:44:04] That's why I pointed out the kiosks when you were looking at the video.

[00:44:09] They were showing the cashier.

[00:44:10] There's no cashier that guy's Burger King.

[00:44:12] It's just a kiosk now and kitchen equipment to offset increased labor

[00:44:16] cost expenses as California raised for quick service wage hikes to $20 an hour

[00:44:20] on April 1st.

[00:44:24] Maria Hollinsworth, the interim CEO,

[00:44:26] president, chief operating officer who was being succeeded by Liz Williams said kiosks

[00:44:30] are also being added to El Pollo Local units as well.

[00:44:33] Quote, our customers will learn quickly and adapt very easily,

[00:44:36] as well as if we have multiple kiosks in the restaurants.

[00:44:39] That's the one thing we've learned.

[00:44:40] It's really helped us with being efficient when it comes to our customers

[00:44:43] putting in their orders, as well as our team members preparing the orders for

[00:44:46] our customers.

[00:44:47] We're leveraging third party data and really scrutinizing all costs to help

[00:44:50] offset expected incremental labor costs from upcoming legislative changes.

[00:44:57] So

[00:44:58] someone goes on and say, we're still comfortable with that range of a third to

[00:45:02] half of that of California minimum wage impact will be offset by labor savings.

[00:45:06] And honestly, the rest of it, we're working on taking some pricing.

[00:45:11] So

[00:45:13] El Pollo Local, and this is what people have been saying is once

[00:45:18] they raise the minimum wage, say hello to kiosks and robots.

[00:45:21] And

[00:45:22] yeah, that's

[00:45:24] what's already happening.

[00:45:25] I think a lot of restaurants are going to start.

[00:45:27] You're going to start seeing a lot of kiosks

[00:45:29] in a lot of these fast food places.

[00:45:30] I think you already are seeing a lot of kiosks.

[00:45:32] They're much more affordable than they used to be.

[00:45:36] So a follower of mine, a follower said they're three to five thousand dollars.

[00:45:41] He messaged me on Instagram and said

[00:45:43] there are only like three to five thousand dollars, which when you think

[00:45:46] about it, a kiosk is three to five thousand dollars as opposed to paying someone

[00:45:49] twenty dollar minimum wage.

[00:45:51] And this is I

[00:45:53] kind of taking a step back.

[00:45:55] This is again, this is the impact that a lot of politicians with pie in the sky,

[00:46:01] utopia ideas think this is great and it's protecting union workers.

[00:46:04] And it's oh, this is so good for everybody.

[00:46:06] Like everyone's going to make twenty dollars an hour minimum wage.

[00:46:10] How many people are going to get laid off or have their hours cut just

[00:46:14] because of this law going into effect?

[00:46:17] Like they're going to figure out like business owners will look at their books,

[00:46:20] they'll look at it and say, how do we cut costs?

[00:46:23] Oh, well, if we get rid of instead of having four cash years working all day long,

[00:46:28] we'll cut all those cash years and we'll have kiosks.

[00:46:32] Now we don't have to pay anybody in those kiosk work.

[00:46:35] They show up to work every day 24 seven.

[00:46:37] They don't care.

[00:46:38] They don't ask for vacation.

[00:46:40] They never have a sick day.

[00:46:41] They never call out because they got in a fight with their boyfriend or something.

[00:46:45] Less workers, insurance, workers,

[00:46:48] competent insurance, taxes, all that stuff like it's savings on top of savings

[00:46:52] on top of savings, so it makes sense.

[00:46:54] And I would expect a lot of these fast food places like the market's going to

[00:46:57] react and it's not going to react away.

[00:46:59] These politicians think it's going to react in the complete opposite way,

[00:47:03] which is it's going to be more automated.

[00:47:06] It's going to be a lot more technology.

[00:47:08] They're probably going to figure out how to make a lot of this stuff with machines.

[00:47:12] They'll press a button that button will then send something to a machine in the

[00:47:16] back that will make your order and really the only person who has to do is

[00:47:20] just have to take it out and bring it to you.

[00:47:23] And at a certain point, they'll probably figure out how to get rid of that person.

[00:47:26] I'm sure which OK, so on the flip side,

[00:47:28] then there's possible jobs and technology there for the people making that.

[00:47:34] But unfortunately, that's probably not the fast food worker.

[00:47:38] And fast food workers historically were mostly high school and college aged kids.

[00:47:45] Now, I know that that's not the case anymore, but

[00:47:49] that there that was.

[00:47:51] So now those I've talked to you about my 16 year old daughter,

[00:47:54] she wants a job.

[00:47:55] I'm not making her get a job right now.

[00:47:57] She wants to jump up and she's applied at so many fast food places and they

[00:47:59] tell her we're not hiring, we're laying off, we're not hiring,

[00:48:02] we're laying off or not hiring anyone below the age of 18.

[00:48:06] Like I had a job at a frozen year replacement, I was like 15.

[00:48:10] And now you can't.

[00:48:12] It's weird.

[00:48:14] Yeah, there's an article I want to discuss in a little bit about that.

[00:48:18] There is this video from Fox Business of a guy who has stuff in California and

[00:48:23] Nevada. I want to watch real quick.

[00:48:25] It's only two minutes long, so we'll we'll check this out and see.

[00:48:30] Too many tabs open.

[00:48:31] That's the problem.

[00:48:32] Way too many tabs.

[00:48:33] And then I got to go through and search for them and I can't find it anymore.

[00:48:38] Where is it? Come on, where are you?

[00:48:43] Is it

[00:48:45] this one?

[00:48:47] No, this one.

[00:48:49] No.

[00:48:52] There we go.

[00:48:55] That is $20 per hour minimum wage for fast food workers.

[00:48:59] Johnny Marys, Alex Johnson, he operates five anti-anns and five

[00:49:04] Cinnabon locations in San Francisco.

[00:49:06] Alex, can you put a number together and tell us how much this new rule would cost

[00:49:10] your business?

[00:49:12] Yeah, across my 10 locations, the increase in the wage rate is going to cost

[00:49:16] $470,000, so just about $50,000 per location.

[00:49:20] Are you going to cut any positions because of this?

[00:49:24] We're everything's on the table right now.

[00:49:26] I think immediately what we're doing though is wage is raising prices.

[00:49:30] Something where I really don't want to do

[00:49:33] a couple times over the past couple of years because of the COVID induced inflation

[00:49:38] and we're seeing our sales decline, we're seeing traffic decline.

[00:49:41] So it's really not a good time to have to do this, but we're not backfilling

[00:49:46] positions as people move on in their careers, our employees.

[00:49:49] We're not refilling those positions.

[00:49:51] And ultimately myself, I'm not growing anymore in the state.

[00:49:54] I'm not expanding any new locations.

[00:49:57] I've actually am doing a different franchise in Nevada, and that's where I'm

[00:50:02] taking those new jobs versus California.

[00:50:04] Why are we not surprised?

[00:50:05] Well, what I'd be right in saying that under this new rule,

[00:50:10] someone, a teenager, 17, 18 years old, maybe 16 years old,

[00:50:14] a counterhand would earn over $30,000.

[00:50:18] It sounds like such a British thing to say.

[00:50:20] A counterhand.

[00:50:22] I've never heard that term before.

[00:50:24] There's a bird.

[00:50:26] A counterhand.

[00:50:27] A counterhand.

[00:50:28] Was it year? Is that accurate?

[00:50:30] Yeah, that's correct.

[00:50:32] So they could earn $40,000 a year.

[00:50:34] Sixteen years old serving burgers across the counter.

[00:50:37] 40 grand.

[00:50:39] Yeah, certainly we know that the new fast food council too,

[00:50:42] that was established under this law that they have the power to take the wage

[00:50:45] even higher. I believe they're already in talks to do so this January.

[00:50:49] What when they know the impact on the area of the business and employment,

[00:50:53] why would they do that? Is it pure politics?

[00:50:58] You know, I don't know.

[00:50:59] All I know is that my business, we have a very finite set of

[00:51:05] economic conditions that need to be met for us to make money.

[00:51:08] And I certainly this this bill has cast out onto whether we can continue in this

[00:51:13] state. And like I said, I've already started to

[00:51:16] invest in the neighboring state of Nevada, where there just isn't so much

[00:51:20] regulation. There isn't so many different types of people telling you how to run

[00:51:24] your business. Alex, may I suggest you make a real change and go to Naples,

[00:51:28] Florida? It's a wide open place and it's full of money and it's a great place

[00:51:32] to do business. I just suggested.

[00:51:37] Just a suggestion.

[00:51:41] He's not he's going to be one of,

[00:51:44] you know, how many people are going to go away?

[00:51:48] How many fans of fast food franchises are going to leave the state?

[00:51:53] And again, this is the response that politicians who never picked up an

[00:52:00] economics book, they just don't seem to understand that you do this.

[00:52:05] Business owners leave.

[00:52:07] They take the jobs with them.

[00:52:08] They close down restaurants like he said, people leave.

[00:52:12] They're not backfilling these positions.

[00:52:14] So the job pool is actually getting smaller.

[00:52:18] So for as much as SEIU says they're for workers rights and protecting workers,

[00:52:25] they've probably done more harm to workers right now in California by

[00:52:31] decreasing the labor pool and the availability of these jobs overall.

[00:52:37] And they're going to sit there a little while.

[00:52:39] Why are there no jobs for any of us anymore?

[00:52:42] Because the union that you supported pushed this law through and scared everyone away.

[00:52:47] And it's just unsustainable.

[00:52:50] I don't blame the guy.

[00:52:51] Go move your business somewhere else.

[00:52:54] And then we already know people are leaving

[00:52:55] California, which means other states are expanding.

[00:52:58] So there's going to be demand for fast food.

[00:53:01] So it's great investment opportunity.

[00:53:04] And I don't know if you wanted to bring this up yet.

[00:53:07] But like California is already the we have the highest unemployment rate in.

[00:53:13] We've talked about it before, but in the country and now it's only going to get worse.

[00:53:18] Yeah.

[00:53:19] And then these laborers are trying to take out

[00:53:21] the unions, sorry, the labor unions trying to take everything over.

[00:53:25] And I feel like they're pushing more people out like you just mentioned.

[00:53:29] There's there supposedly for workers, but now there's less workers.

[00:53:34] And it just goes to show you that these politicians and labor unions have got

[00:53:39] to just take a seat.

[00:53:41] They're roning things for people.

[00:53:43] Just just take a time out.

[00:53:45] Take a take a time out for like 10 years and don't do anything and see how much.

[00:53:49] Just it's almost like, honestly, if if these politicians and labor unions

[00:53:53] just stop doing stuff for 10 years, California might fix itself like I agree.

[00:53:59] It would like start to heal.

[00:54:01] Just stop doing stuff like you're making things worse.

[00:54:07] So there's this other article.

[00:54:08] I didn't even think about this.

[00:54:10] Did you know this has an impact on cafeteria workers at public schools?

[00:54:15] Well, I didn't know till you put that article in the notes until I put it in the notes.

[00:54:20] It says lost in the hub of service from Fortune magazine lost in the hub

[00:54:23] up surrounding California's new 20 per 20 hour minimum wage for fast food

[00:54:27] workers is how that raised could impact public schools.

[00:54:31] Forcing districts to compete with the likes of McDonald's and Wendy's for

[00:54:35] cafeteria workers amid a state budget crunch.

[00:54:37] So

[00:54:39] the state has effectively shot itself in the foot because

[00:54:44] now public education has to pay cafeteria workers $20 an hour.

[00:54:50] And a lot of these districts don't have the money or the revenue to pay

[00:54:55] these cafeteria workers $20 an hour.

[00:54:57] So where do they go get the money?

[00:54:59] And the state's already facing the seventy three billion dollar deficit.

[00:55:02] What we did, we just don't have cafeteria workers anymore.

[00:55:05] We just don't have people who are lunch ladies who are going to be serving any food anymore.

[00:55:10] I guess they didn't think about that.

[00:55:12] I'm surprised they didn't write that exemption in that public schools or

[00:55:15] government schools don't have to pay $20 an hour, which would look pretty bad.

[00:55:19] If they were like, no, if you work at a cafeteria for a public school,

[00:55:23] you don't get $20 and a minute, $20 an hour.

[00:55:28] The article goes on to say

[00:55:32] demand is projected to fuel an increase of over more than 70 million extra meals

[00:55:37] in California schools this year compared to 2018, according to the State Department

[00:55:41] of Education.

[00:55:43] It's because they're the first because we are the first state to guarantee

[00:55:46] free meals for all students regardless of the family's income.

[00:55:49] But these jobs typically have lots of turnover in our heart of the field.

[00:55:52] The minimum wage boost for fast food workers can make them even more difficult.

[00:55:56] Quote, they are all very worried about it.

[00:55:58] Most are saying they anticipate will be harder and harder to hire employees

[00:56:03] president of the California School Nutrition Association.

[00:56:09] Some districts are limited what they can do in the Linwood,

[00:56:11] Udeffined School District in Los Angeles County.

[00:56:13] The starting salary for food service workers is 1770 per hour

[00:56:17] and maxes out at 2151 per hour, which as we already know,

[00:56:23] by January next year that might be the new requirement.

[00:56:26] According to Gretchen Jansen, the district's assistant superintendent of

[00:56:29] business services, she said these workers only work three hours per day,

[00:56:33] meaning they aren't eligible for health benefits.

[00:56:36] Jansen says the district is waiting to see how employees react.

[00:56:39] Adding quote, we just don't have the increase in revenue to be able to

[00:56:42] provide additional funding for staff.

[00:56:46] So there's something they didn't look over while they were carving out

[00:56:49] an exemption for Panera Bread, cafeteria workers.

[00:56:53] Now be fun trying to figure out any thoughts on the cafeteria workers.

[00:56:57] Your thoughts.

[00:56:58] It just.

[00:56:59] No thoughts.

[00:56:59] It's like this bill as much as I don't agree with it.

[00:57:02] They're screwing over a lot of people in the process too.

[00:57:05] It just seems bad all around.

[00:57:07] And I think people will say, oh, you don't think people deserve $20 an hour.

[00:57:12] You don't think that's that's where it like you don't think people should

[00:57:14] make a livable wage.

[00:57:16] I'm going to read this last article before we wrap up for the night.

[00:57:21] It's from Forbes magazine.

[00:57:23] It's called raising the minimum wage hurts the most at disadvantage.

[00:57:27] Less than 2 percent of the workforce and only about 9 percent of teenage

[00:57:31] workers work at or below minimum wage, about a quarter of minimum wage

[00:57:35] workers are ages 16 to 19 with younger employees not even counted in the labor

[00:57:40] statistics.

[00:57:42] Another quarter of those minimum wage are under 25.

[00:57:45] This means that a full 50 percent of those working for minimum wage are younger

[00:57:49] than 25.

[00:57:51] These minimum wage workers typically live with their parents and have many

[00:57:54] and many have middle class lifestyles while the earnings may be small.

[00:57:58] Their average family income is over $53,000 per year.

[00:58:02] To understand why minimum wage hurts the most at disadvantage, you must

[00:58:06] imagine the person who having trouble who was having trouble getting hired

[00:58:10] at a job paying $7 an hour or higher.

[00:58:13] They may not have had a job ever or have had only one in the past year.

[00:58:17] Their communication skills may not be adequate or they may not be fluent in

[00:58:20] the language.

[00:58:21] They may not be finished basic schooling.

[00:58:23] They may not have learned to follow instruction, show up on time or diligently

[00:58:27] complete tasks they don't like.

[00:58:31] And it goes on to talk about setting the minimum wage higher at $15 per

[00:58:35] hour sets the beginning of the economic ladder 15 feet off the ground.

[00:58:38] If some teens are unemployable at 7.25 per hour, think how discouraging and

[00:58:43] frustrating $15 per hour will feel for an employer.

[00:58:46] The alternative to a minimum wage job is in a higher paying job.

[00:58:50] The ultimate minimum wage job is outsourcing or automation, which we talked

[00:58:53] about is a key us and more machines with technology today both are possible.

[00:59:00] The consensus among economists economists is that one to two percent

[00:59:04] of entry level jobs are lost for every 10 percent increase in the minimum wage.

[00:59:09] So imagine jumping from 16 to 20, raising the minimum wage from 7.25 to 15

[00:59:14] could mean a reduction in entry level jobs of 11 to 21 percent.

[00:59:18] These estimates would suggest that between 1.8 and 3.5 million jobs will be lost.

[00:59:23] These jobs won't show up on unemployment statistics.

[00:59:26] You have a job you would need to have had a job before your

[00:59:28] attempts to find one or count it as being unemployed.

[00:59:31] Interesting.

[00:59:32] So

[00:59:34] I think this is a good way to talk or kind of maybe kind of wrap this whole

[00:59:40] episode up before we finish for the night.

[00:59:44] There are like I said, people are going to say, oh,

[00:59:46] you don't think these people deserve $20 minimum wage.

[00:59:51] There's there's an interesting theory out there that minimum wage does end

[00:59:54] up hurting the disadvantage like this article says.

[00:59:58] Because it takes away the ability of someone to negotiate

[01:00:02] with the employer and it kind of creates a barrier.

[01:00:06] And I think like with your story, with your daughter.

[01:00:09] Right now paying $20 an hour

[01:00:12] to a young teenager for a business owner who they may not have any job experience

[01:00:18] might go, I'm not going to give that person $20 an hour.

[01:00:23] It doesn't make sense, right?

[01:00:24] Like they don't have any work experience.

[01:00:27] But if there's someone who is fresh or new, like when you were

[01:00:30] at our young and we worked at whatever place that we could and the minimum wage

[01:00:35] was like $5 an hour or something.

[01:00:37] Like, yeah, they were happy to pay teenagers $5 an hour to go

[01:00:41] work at an ice cream shop or paint fences or something like that.

[01:00:46] And you need that job to get in.

[01:00:48] So minimum wage job when you keep increasing minimum wage,

[01:00:54] you create a barrier for people who need to get their foot in the doors

[01:00:58] somehow.

[01:01:00] And this is what this bill is going to do.

[01:01:03] It's going to prevent people who just want to get a job,

[01:01:06] want to get that first job under their belt.

[01:01:08] Maybe they just moved here.

[01:01:10] Maybe they're just trying to get something so they can make a little bit of money.

[01:01:13] Maybe they're a teenager just trying to make some money to save for college or

[01:01:16] something like that.

[01:01:17] Twenty dollars an hour minimum wage basically stops all that.

[01:01:21] Yeah.

[01:01:22] You're not helping people who I mean,

[01:01:26] doesn't basically it absolutely.

[01:01:29] Yeah, it absolutely is an impediment over and over.

[01:01:32] No need to be 18.

[01:01:35] No, you don't have experience.

[01:01:37] No, we're laying off.

[01:01:39] Yeah.

[01:01:40] I mean, it used to be you could walk in when you were a teenager,

[01:01:42] you could just walk into a lot of these fast food places and

[01:01:46] they were just happy you were a warm body with a pulse.

[01:01:48] And they're like, we'll train you.

[01:01:50] It's five dollars an hour or whatever the minimum wage was.

[01:01:53] You get that and we'll train you.

[01:01:54] And it's at least it's something to get started

[01:01:58] for your next job, which hopefully is a step up from that job.

[01:02:02] And then it's a long line of stepping up from that job to the next job.

[01:02:07] So there is this argument that and I tend to agree with it.

[01:02:12] The more you raise minimum wage,

[01:02:14] the more you leave a lot of people behind who can't get these jobs.

[01:02:18] You want to go as far as sort of the Murray Rothbard theory,

[01:02:22] which is you should just get rid of minimum wage.

[01:02:26] Maybe because it leaves individuals free to negotiate their own wage,

[01:02:33] you could say.

[01:02:35] I mean, I don't know if we want to go down that rabbit hole, but

[01:02:38] it's definitely an argument.

[01:02:40] I don't have time to go down that rabbit hole.

[01:02:42] We don't have that time to go down that rabbit hole.

[01:02:43] It's definitely good.

[01:02:45] If there was no minimum wage, of course,

[01:02:47] someone's not going to agree to five dollars an hour.

[01:02:50] They're going to be there and hopefully run their expenses, whatever.

[01:02:55] Like if it's a teenager and they're just trying to save for a car or need to pay

[01:02:59] for their car insurance or whatever, or college or if it's a mom who's just

[01:03:06] trying to make a couple of thousand dollars extra a month, they're going to be like,

[01:03:10] OK, how many hours am I willing to work?

[01:03:12] Can I work? What do I need?

[01:03:13] Here's what I want and either they're going to agree or not.

[01:03:17] Yeah.

[01:03:18] Yeah, and that's sort of the theory is that if you just,

[01:03:21] in the radical sense, got rid of minimum wage, people would be able to walk into a

[01:03:25] place like, you know, in and out and go, hey, I want to apply.

[01:03:30] This is my first job.

[01:03:31] I have no experience and they go, oh, great.

[01:03:33] Well, are you willing to work for 725 an hour?

[01:03:36] Maybe a new employee goes.

[01:03:37] Yeah.

[01:03:38] I'm, you know, I live at home with my parents.

[01:03:40] Just looking for that new first job.

[01:03:42] Need that job.

[01:03:43] I'll do 725 an hour.

[01:03:46] But it does create an impediment.

[01:03:47] And this is the first week that we're seeing this go into implementation.

[01:03:55] And this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of restaurants, business owners.

[01:04:01] The backlash from this is going to be how do how dare I say

[01:04:06] it's going to be catastrophic, I think.

[01:04:09] I think it's going to be really bad for people.

[01:04:11] I think you're going to see a lot of jobs lost.

[01:04:14] It's going to we're going to look back on this a couple of years and go.

[01:04:17] This was a horrible idea.

[01:04:19] It didn't end up helping the people that we wanted to help.

[01:04:23] And it drove a lot of business out of California.

[01:04:27] So that's my take is that we're only in the first week.

[01:04:31] There's already a lot of confusion.

[01:04:33] It's already a lot of pushback.

[01:04:35] And business owners are going to do what they do.

[01:04:37] Like that one guy in Fox Business, he said,

[01:04:40] I'm just out.

[01:04:41] I'm not going to grow any more stores.

[01:04:43] Why would I go to California and open a store?

[01:04:46] It's ridiculous.

[01:04:47] I can't pay people $20 an hour.

[01:04:50] So this will, I think in the long run, end up hurting the people that it's supposed to help.

[01:04:56] Well, it's also like we talked about the $25 offer.

[01:04:59] It's going to prevent people like you and I from going to fast food.

[01:05:03] And I know like there's a lot of comments of good now people will eat healthier.

[01:05:10] No, that actually doesn't equal that at all.

[01:05:13] I'm a mom. Have I mentioned I'm a mom?

[01:05:16] So I had all my kids close in age and like I don't even like Chick-fil-A.

[01:05:21] OK, but Chick-fil-A has a playground.

[01:05:26] As when I all my kids were younger and you would just be like, oh, my God,

[01:05:32] I need to get out of the house or they're driving me crazy or whatever.

[01:05:35] You're just like Chick-fil-A playground,

[01:05:38] call a mom friend, call a sister or her kids like let's just go sit in Chick-fil-A.

[01:05:44] You know, and like we'll eat and the kids can eat or not and play in the playground

[01:05:48] and like they're fine, they're distracted and like you get some adult time or whatever.

[01:05:53] Or just even being a mom in general, there is

[01:05:57] when the kids were younger or so many, so many days where it was just like

[01:06:02] I had good intentions.

[01:06:04] I bought healthy food to make and all hell broke loose.

[01:06:09] And I'm just going to throw them in the car and drive through a fast food place.

[01:06:13] Like it happens.

[01:06:14] And let's say I those days, I don't even have groceries in the house.

[01:06:18] And so it's either fast food or grocery shopping.

[01:06:20] If I don't have a lot of money or time that I'm stressed.

[01:06:24] And this isn't just a mom thing, but like let's say I do choose to go to

[01:06:28] the grocery store, OK, but all right, in my case, I'm just trying to feed my kids.

[01:06:32] If that's the state of mind that I'm in at the moment where it's either like

[01:06:36] for both where it's like stress, no money, low money, whatever budget.

[01:06:42] I'm probably not going to walk in and try to make some healthy meal.

[01:06:44] I'm probably going to walk in and grab a bag of cereal, to be honest,

[01:06:48] and be like, yeah, kids, we're eating cereal tonight.

[01:06:50] So no, that doesn't mean yay.

[01:06:52] People are going to eat healthier.

[01:06:54] And that's an absurd statement.

[01:06:55] Some might they might try it, but that's a whole different issue because

[01:06:59] then you know, we're a health blog now.

[01:07:00] If people want to be healthy, they're going to be healthy.

[01:07:03] But if people are like, right now, I just need to go get fast food for whatever reason.

[01:07:08] Well, now they can't afford it.

[01:07:10] Yeah. For a lot of people, it is might be their only option because to eat

[01:07:14] healthy is actually sadly in this country that's a whole other can of worms.

[01:07:20] It's expensive to eat healthy and is expensive to go by

[01:07:24] raw ingredients, organic ingredients.

[01:07:27] Time to make the meal.

[01:07:28] And so if you're now working three different fast food jobs to make ends meet

[01:07:33] because none of them will give you enough hours.

[01:07:35] How do you have time to cook?

[01:07:37] Yep.

[01:07:38] So it's going to have ramifications and it's only just starting to play out.

[01:07:44] We'll obviously keep an eye on it.

[01:07:46] Maybe we'll do a follow up episode in a year or two and see like, hey,

[01:07:49] how did this end up?

[01:07:51] So many follow ups.

[01:07:53] So many follow ups.

[01:07:54] Well, it's you know, we got to keep seeing how things progress.

[01:08:00] But yeah, I completely believe this will be catastrophic.

[01:08:04] It's going to have the opposite effect of what they're looking for.

[01:08:08] And

[01:08:09] OK, so as an attorney, do you think there's going to be lawsuits with the state?

[01:08:15] These NDAs?

[01:08:18] There might be there might be some lawsuits in terms of like

[01:08:22] clarification in terms of like there might be a restaurant that

[01:08:27] will not abide by it and then the state will come down on and say, like,

[01:08:33] you have to abide by this and they'll sue and say, no, your law is ambiguous or

[01:08:37] something like that. I don't doubt it.

[01:08:39] I think there probably will be lawsuits.

[01:08:42] And maybe they look at this bill and go like, yeah, you know, it is ambiguous.

[01:08:47] You have to rewrite it or start over or do something else.

[01:08:49] So I don't think they'll ever go back on it.

[01:08:53] Yeah, unfortunately, I don't think it'll ever get undone unless it's

[01:08:58] unless it's so, so bad and there's so many jobs lost and the industry just crumbles.

[01:09:04] Like I just don't foresee that that's going to happen.

[01:09:07] So right.

[01:09:09] But yeah,

[01:09:11] bottom line, like I said, it's going to be catastrophic.

[01:09:14] It's going to be bad for restaurants in fast food places and it's going to be

[01:09:17] bad for the workers.

[01:09:18] So but at least the politicians who passed it got to have a nice old press

[01:09:22] conference and pat themselves on the back and look great and

[01:09:25] well, get to the party, not the party.

[01:09:30] They were doing remember there was a celebration was it yesterday

[01:09:34] at the Capitol to celebrate?

[01:09:38] Yeah, they were going to they were going to do a rally to celebrate it passing.

[01:09:46] But they canceled it because of low turnout.

[01:09:49] So Brian Dolly, I think had probably the best quip about it.

[01:09:54] Love Dolly. We love the Dolly's shout out to the Dolly's.

[01:09:59] He said probably because they're all busy getting on the unemployment line

[01:10:03] after being fired and laughing.

[01:10:05] But that's horrible because it's premature.

[01:10:08] That there's probably a lot of people who got after April 1st,

[01:10:11] these were like, sorry, we're cutting your hours or we're just cutting you

[01:10:15] entirely, you just don't work here anymore.

[01:10:18] So it's funny, but it's sad, but true.

[01:10:22] So on that note, do you have any other final thoughts before we wrap up?

[01:10:26] No, we went overall.

[01:10:28] I'll stop talking.

[01:10:29] We went over a lot of stuff.

[01:10:30] Like I said, there was a lot of stuff to talk about tonight.

[01:10:34] All right.

[01:10:34] So like we always finish every show, if you like this show, make sure to like,

[01:10:38] share, subscribe, review, comment, all that stuff helps with the algorithm

[01:10:42] so people can find us.

[01:10:44] Best thing you can do that is absolutely 100% free.

[01:10:48] Doesn't cost you $20 an hour minimum wage is share this show with somebody who

[01:10:53] you think would be interested in California politics and news that we talk

[01:10:57] about on a weekly basis.

[01:10:58] And with that, we'll see you on the next one later.

[01:11:03] Thank you for listening to another episode of California Underground.

[01:11:06] If you like what you heard, remember to subscribe, like and review it and follow

[01:11:10] California Underground on social media for updates as to when new episodes are

[01:11:13] available.