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A REVIEW OF KEY 2024 BALLOT MEASURES. VOTERS BACKED PROGRESSIVE
POLICY MEASURES.  
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Emma Cohn, Jennifer Sherer
November 7, 2024
Economic Policy Institute
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_ In this year’s election, voters given the opportunity to weigh in
directly on questions of economic justice showed policy preferences
far more progressive than those reflected in many national and state
election outcomes. _

, Daily Northwestern

 

BY THE NUMBERS: 

* Voters approved minimum wage increases to $15 per hour in two
states (Alaska and Missouri).  

* Voters expanded 
[[link removed]]workers’
ability to earn paid sick leave in three states (Alaska, Missouri, and
Nebraska).  

* Voters approved a state constitutional right to abortion in seven
states (Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and
New York).  

* Voters rejected school vouchers in three states (Colorado,
Kentucky, and Nebraska).  

* Alaska voters opted to ban anti-union captive audience meetings,
while Oregon voters passed a measure to protect cannabis workers’
right to unionize
[[link removed]].  

In this year’s election, voters given the opportunity to weigh in
directly on questions of economic justice showed policy preferences
far more progressive than those reflected in many national and state
election outcomes. Across the country, voters seized opportunities to
approve state or local ballot measures increasing the minimum wage,
expanding paid leave, strengthening workers’ rights to unionize,
preserving public education, and protecting access to abortion. These
ballot measure outcomes reflect a clear ongoing trend of strong voter
support for policies that prioritize worker, racial, and gender
justice—and illustrate how state and local governments can continue
to play important roles in enacting such policies. 

STATE AND LOCAL BALLOT MEASURES 

MINIMUM WAGE 

Five states voted on wage-related measures in 2024. The federal
minimum wage has not been raised since 2009. In the absence of action
at the national level, 30 states and 63 localities have raised
their own minimum wages
[[link removed]] beyond the federal
minimum of $7.25.   

ALASKA: Voters passed Ballot Measure 1
[[link removed](2024)] to
increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by July 1, 2027.
We estimate this will increase pay for an estimated 30,000 workers in
the state [[link removed]].
Additionally, the measure requires employers to provide earned paid
sick leave and protect workers’ rights to opt out of mandatory
“captive audience” meetings on political or religious topics at
work (see below).  

MISSOURI: In another win for low-wage workers, voters
passed Proposition A
[[link removed](2024)] to
raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. The measure also
requires employers to provide earned paid sick leave (see below).
The Missouri Budget Project [[link removed]] (a member
organization of EPI’s EARN network
[[link removed]]) estimates
[[link removed]] the
measure will raise wages for over 560,000 Missouri workers and provide
paid sick leave to nearly 730,000 workers. 

CALIFORNIA: As of this writing, Proposition 32
[[link removed]] is
too close to call. If passed, the proposition would increase the
state’s minimum wage to $18 per hour and tie future increases to
inflation. In that case, California would have the highest state
minimum wage in the nation (though one that still falls short of the
state’s average living wage of $32.81
[[link removed]]). According to the Los
Angeles Alliance for a New Economy [[link removed]] (a member
organization of EPI’s EARN network [[link removed]]), the
proposed increase would raise wages for about 2 million Californians
who currently work full time but earn less than $18 per hour. 

GLENDALE, ARIZONA: Proposition 499
[[link removed]], an ambitious
local proposal to raise the minimum wage for hotel and event center
workers to $20 an hour (with annual increases) and set various
standards for hotel work hours, did not pass. The proposal would have
also created a new city Department of Labor Standards dedicated to
investigating employer violations such as wage theft and overtime
violations. Though this measure did not succeed, it does provide an
innovate policy model for other local governments to consider.  

_Tipped minimum wage_ 

While the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25, the federal
“tipped minimum” wage remains $2.13 per hour. As a result,
employers of tipped workers can rely on customers to pay the bulk of
wages for tipped staff. Even as most states have now enacted minimum
wages above the federal $7.25 per hour, many still maintain
exceptionally low tipped minimum wages. 

ARIZONA: Voters rejected Proposition 138
[[link removed]] in
a win for tipped workers. If passed, it would have lowered the
state’s tipped minimum wage, contradicting the national trend toward
raising the minimum wage and eliminating gaps between tipped and
non-tipped hourly workers.  

MASSACHUSETTS: In one exception to the overall trend of voter
approval for state measures to raise wages, Question 5
[[link removed]] failed
in the face of heavy opposition from the restaurant industry. If
passed, the measure would have gradually increased the minimum wage
for tipped employees to meet the state’s standard minimum wage ($15)
over the course of five years. Massachusetts will maintain its tipped
minimum wage.  

PAID LEAVE  

Absent federal action, a growing number of states and localities
have expanded 
[[link removed]]workers’
ability to earn paid sick leave to care for themselves and their
families. This year, voters passed ballot measures to further that
expansion in three states.  

ALASKA’S successful minimum wage measure (see above) included a
provision requiring employers to allow employees to accrue paid sick
leave (up to 40 hours per year at businesses with fewer than 15
employees and up to 56 hours per year for larger employers). 

MISSOURI’S successful minimum wage measure (see above) included a
provision requiring employers to allow employees to accrue paid sick
leave at a rate of one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked.  

NEBRASKA: Amendment 436
[[link removed](2024)] passed,
which requires businesses to offer earned paid sick leave to
employees. Small businesses with fewer than 20 employees will be
required to allow employees to accrue up to five paid sick days a
year, while employees of larger businesses will be entitled to up to
seven days. 

WORKERS’ RIGHTS 

Due to longstanding gaps and exclusions in federal labor law, far too
many U.S. workers either still lack any legal pathway to a union
contract or face daunting obstacles to exercising their rights to
unionize. Multiple successful ballot initiatives this year showed that
in the absence of federal labor law reform, state and local
governments can play key roles in ensuring more workers gain full
union and collective bargaining rights. 

ALASKA: In addition to regulations on minimum wage and paid sick
leave, Alaska’s successful Ballot Measure 1 bans mandatory captive
audience meetings
[[link removed]].
Alaska now joins eight other states that have enacted laws to prevent
employers from requiring employees to listen to political, religious,
or anti-union employer views on work time.  

DENVER, COLORADO: A large majority of voters approved Question 2U, a
local ordinance to extend collective bargaining rights
[[link removed]] to
7,000 municipal workers. While Colorado has enacted legislation
granting collective bargaining rights to some state and county
employees in recent years, other local government workers still lack
this protection in the state. 

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: Voters passed a “Workers Bill of Rights
[[link removed]]”
amendment to the city charter that articulates rights such as access
to fair wages, paid leave and health care, and the right to unionize.
The measure sets out an aspirational framework for encouraging (and
potentially incentivizing) local employers to improve job quality but
does not set mandates to raise wages or improve working conditions
since local governments in Louisiana are blocked from enacting such
policies under state preemption laws
[[link removed]].  

MASSACHUSETTS: Voters passed Question 3
[[link removed](2024)],
which creates a unique state-level framework that rideshare drivers
could use to form organizations authorized to bargain with rideshare
companies over wages and working conditions,
[[link removed]] without
addressing the question of drivers’ legal status as employees
[[link removed]].
Rideshare companies have long fought to keep drivers classified as
independent contractors as this exempts them from the protections of
many state and federal laws, including the right to unionize under the
federal National Labor Relations Act. 

OREGON: Voters passed Measure 119
[[link removed]],
which helps protect cannabis workers’ right to unionize
[[link removed]] by
requiring employers to sign a “labor peace agreement” in order to
receive a license to operate in the state. Such agreements stipulate
that employers will not interfere with organizing efforts if workers
choose to unionize.  

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS 

The right to an abortion is a matter of economic security
[[link removed]],
independence, and mobility for millions of women across the country.
People who are denied abortion access are more likely to live in
poverty
[[link removed]],
be unemployed, and face other adverse economic outcomes. 

Ten states had measures on the ballot this November that would provide
a state constitutional right to abortion, the majority of which
succeeded. Voters in ARIZONA, COLORADO, MARYLAND, MISSOURI,
MONTANA, and NEVADA passed these measures, enshrining this crucial
right in state law.  

In NEW YORK, voters passed Proposal 1
[[link removed]] to
expand the state constitution’s Equal Protection Clause to protect
people from discrimination (including in the workplace) regardless of
“ethnicity, national origin, age, and disability” or “sex,
including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression,
pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and
autonomy.” Though the amendment does not include the word
“abortion,” it provides safeguards for those who seek them. 

On the other side, voters in SOUTH DAKOTA rejected their proposed
amendment for a constitutional right to abortion. Voters
in NEBRASKA faced competing initiatives
[[link removed]] this
year but rejected wins for abortion rights on both counts. Initiative
439
[[link removed](2024)] (which
would provide a fundamental right to abortion) failed,
whereas Initiative 434
[[link removed](2024)] passed
(which would prohibit abortion after the first trimester with limited
exceptions). Finally, in FLORIDA, 57% of voters favored their
amendment to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution,
falling just short of the 60% threshold needed to pass.  

CRIMINAL JUSTICE 

_Constitutional amendments to abolish slavery_ 

Many state constitutions retain similar language to the U.S.
Constitution’s 13th Amendment, which prohibits slavery and
involuntary servitude _except_ as punishment for a crime.
The Abolish Slavery National Network
[[link removed]] and other civil rights advocates argue
[[link removed]] that
extremely low-paid (or, in some cases, unpaid) forced work in U.S.
prisons amounts to modern slavery. Incarcerated workers are not only
exempt from minimum wage laws but are also denied
[[link removed]] overtime
protection, workplace safety guarantees, and the right to unionize.
Closing these loopholes is a first step toward establishing basic
rights for the incarcerated workforce.  

Both CALIFORNIA and NEVADA proposed ballot measures to remove
language in their state constitutions permitting slavery or
involuntary servitude as punishment for a crime. Voters in Nevada
passed Question 4
[[link removed]],
joining eight other states that have passed ballot measures to abolish
slavery in prisons in recent years. A similar proposal in
California, Proposition 6,
[[link removed]] is
still too close to call. If passed, it would also directly prohibit
prisons from punishing incarcerated people who refuse to work.  

_Criminalizing immigration_ 

ARIZONA: In a significant loss for immigrants’ rights, Proposition
314
[[link removed](2024)] passed.
This damaging, anti-immigrant law triggered several changes to the
state’s criminal and immigration law, including making it a state
crime for noncitizens to enter the state at any location other than
official ports or for an individual in the country
illegally to submit false information to apply for a job. The
changes also empower state courts and law enforcement
to initiate and carry out deportation proceedings.

SCHOOL VOUCHERS 

School vouchers divert public funds
[[link removed]] to
private and religious schools. Despite widespread evidence documenting
that vouchers are a failed policy
[[link removed]] that
damage public schools, deepen inequality, and weaken student
educational outcomes, state efforts to expand voucher programs remain
a central feature of the relentless campaign to defund and then
privatize public education. 

Voters rejected school vouchers in every state with a measure on the
ballot.  

COLORADO: Voters rejected Amendment 80
[[link removed](2024)],
which would have provided for a state constitutional “right to
school choice” for K–12 students and established the groundwork
for private school vouchers. The Colorado Fiscal Institute
[[link removed]] (a member organization of EPI’s EARN
network [[link removed]]) found
[[link removed]] that
vouchers would have cost the state at least $640 million.   

KENTUCKY: A majority of voters in every county in the state
rejected Amendment 2
[[link removed](2024)],
which would have allowed the state legislature to provide state
funding to K–12 students outside of public schools. The Kentucky
Center for Economic Policy [[link removed]] (a member
organization of EPI’s EARN network [[link removed]]) found
[[link removed]] that
passing the amendment and creating a state subsidy program for private
schools could have cost the state $1.19 billion, equivalent to the
cost of employing 9,869 Kentucky public school teachers and
employees. 

NEBRASKA: Voters approved Referendum
[[link removed](2024)] 435,
repealing a state law that allowed the state to spend up to $10
million a year on subsidizing tuition for K–12 students who attend
private schools. 

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_EMMA COHN (she/her) joined EPI in 2024 as a research assistant with
the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) team. As a research
assistant, she collects, analyzes, and presents economic data, creates
data visualizations, and assists with writing reports and blog posts._

_JENNIFER SHERER (she/her) is Acting Deputy Director of EARN. Her work
focuses on expanding the ability of working people to achieve racial,
gender, and economic justice through organizing, collective
bargaining, and state and local policy change. She leads the Economic
Analysis and Research Network (EARN) Worker Power Project, supporting
a growing cohort of state and local groups working with labor and
grassroots partners to advance state and local policies that expand
worker rights and build worker power. Her publications include reports
and articles on labor unions, public-sector collective bargaining,
“right-to-work” laws, child labor, worker misclassification, wage
theft, women’s labor education, labor oral history, and
working-class voters, and her work has been cited by numerous local
and national media outlets including The Washington Post, The New
Yorker, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, and NPR._

_Prior to joining EPI in 2021, Sherer served as director of the
University of Iowa Labor Center, leading statewide worker outreach,
education, and leadership development programming in close partnership
with labor unions and community organizations. While at the Labor
Center, Sherer also directed the Iowa Labor History Oral Project,
helped found the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa,
co-coordinated the Midwest School for Women Workers, and served on the
boards of the Labor and Working Class History Association, Labor
Studies Journal, and EARN affiliate Common Good Iowa (formerly the
Iowa Policy Project)._

_Sherer first became active in the labor movement over 20 years ago as
a local union officer, a project staff organizer for the United
Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE), and a leader of student
anti-sweatshop campaigns while earning her PhD. She has since served
as a local labor council officer, volunteered in dozens of issue
campaigns, and walked many picket lines._

_ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE (EPI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think
tank created in 1986 to include the needs of low- and middle-income
workers in economic policy discussions. EPI believes every working
person deserves a good job with fair pay, affordable health care, and
retirement security. To achieve this goal, EPI conducts research and
analysis on the economic status of working America. EPI proposes
public policies that protect and improve the economic conditions of
low- and middle-income workers and assesses policies with respect to
how they affect those workers._

_Donate to EPI [[link removed]]_

* elections
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* ballot referendums
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* Minimum Wage
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* paid leave
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* workers rights
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* Public Education
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* abortion
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