$18 miminum wage raise won't be on this year's ballot

There won't be a ballot measure to raise the state minimum wage to $18.

If the California Living Wage Act had been passed, base wages would have gone up to $16 an hour next January and to $18 an hour by 2025.

Even though it was backed by many labor groups and paid for by a wealthy investor, a plan to raise the minimum wage to $18 over the next three years did not make it to the November ballot.

The Secretary of State's office said that county election officials had not verified enough signatures by Thursday's deadline for the measure to qualify.