SDCTA opposes City of San Diego Proposition I (June 2016)
The SDCTA opposes Proposition I, a referendum on Ordinance O-20390, which would increase the minimum wage in the City of San Diego. Staff bases this recommendations on the findings of the SDCTA's 2014 study on the topic. That study noted, among other findings, that increasing the minimum wage is a blunt instrument for alleviating poverty because much of the wage increase would be inherited by households other than those below the poverty line (such as middle class households with a teenager earning minimum wage). In addition, this measure would put the small businesses that employ a majority of minimum wage workers in the city at a competitive disadvantage when compared to other cities in the regional area in the time between when this measure and the recently passed statewide minimum wage increase pass. SDCTA staff recommends that policy makers look to other solutions for alleviating poverty, such as expanding the earned income tax credit and improving access to educational programs.