OTHER NEWS - June 1, 1996

Minimum Wage Measure to Be on Ballot: Backers of an initiative to boost California’s minimum wage from $4.25 an hour to $5.75 said county election officials have verified they have enough valid signatures to put the measure on the November ballot. The projected 530,231 signatures collected is more than 50,000 above the amount needed to qualify, backers of the measure said. The California Secretary of State is expected to officially announce the measure as qualifying for the November ballot next month. “California voters will now have the opportunity to give hard-working, underpaid minimum-wage workers the raise they deserve,” said state Sen. Hilda Solis, who heads the advisory committee to the group promoting the initiative, the Livable Wage Coalition. California’s minimum wage has been at its current level since 1988.