A California law seeking to increase wages and improve working conditions for fast-food workers has been set aside for now, after state officials said an effort by major restaurant and business trade groups to overturn the law had qualified as a measure on next year's ballot.
The referendum seeking to overturn Assembly Bill 257 gathered sufficient valid voter signatures, the office of California Secretary of State Shirley Weber certified Tuesday. The group of businesses backing the effort, called the Save Local Restaurants, had until Dec. 5 to submit roughly 623,000 California voter signatures. The proponents submitted more than 1 million signatures, of which more than 712,000 were deemed to be valid, according to the secretary of state's office.
The announcement means the law, also known as the Fast Recovery Act, approved last year by the Legislature is suspended until California voters decide on the November 2024 ballot whether to repeal the law.
