Audio The battle over Proposition I — the measure to raise San Diego's minimum wage — was expected to be contentious but fizzled after a state law superseded it.

San Diego's Minimum Wage Measure Wins Easily GUEST: Dale Kelly Bankhead, secretary-treasurer, San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council

Transcript for audioclip 29896

UPDATE: 12:45 a.m. June 8, 2016

Democrats celebrated Tuesday night that San Diego's measure to raise the minimum wage and guarantee sick days for workers easily passed. Proposition I passed with more than 60 percent of the vote.

"Nobody who works hard, full time should live in poverty," said Dale Kelly Bankhead of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council. "And this will make so much difference to these hard working families as much as 260 dollars extra a month on their paychecks."

Business groups and others worked to get the measure on the ballot after the City Council approved the measure without taking it to a public vote. Then the opponents decided not to mount a campaign, especially after Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers passed their own increase in the minimum wage.

UPDATE: 8:10 p.m. June 7, 2016

With the opposition not fighting it, San Diego's measure to raise the minimum wage and guarantee five paid sick days to workers was easily winning Tuesday night. In early returns, 62 percent of voters were supporting the measure to 38 percent opposed.

Original post

The battle over a ballot measure to raise San Diego's minimum wage was expected to be contentious but fizzled after a state law superseded it.

Proposition I would raise the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour by 2017. It was put on the ballot two summers ago by a signature drive that overturned a City Council decision to raise the wage.

Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers decided this year to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022 for businesses with 26 employees and more, and by 2023 for businesses with 25 or fewer employees.

San Diego’s local minimum wage increase would eventually be superseded by that larger bump.

That meant the business groups who funded the signature drive in San Diego did not organize to try to defeat Proposition I.

A coalition to support the measure's passage did hold rallies and voter outreach events and raised more than $200,000.

If the San Diego measure passes, wages would immediately rise from $10 to $10.50 an hour, and then rise again to $11.50 an hour on Jan. 1. That amounts to $260 more a month for someone working 40 hours a week.

The local measure would also guarantee five paid sick days, which is not included in the state measure.

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