By Stacey Leasca, GOOD.is
While most of the nation sat glued to televisions across the country watching the presidential race, smaller important measures were quietly making waves, including marijuana, early parole for non-violent offenders, and minimum wage.
Across four states—Maine, Arizona, Colorado, and Washington—voters turned out in droves to help raise the minimum wage on a state level. As ABC News breaks it down:
• Arizona will incrementally increase its state minimum wage from $8.05 an hour to $12 an hour by 2020, according to Proposition 206.
• Colorado will incrementally increase its state minimum wage from $8.31 an hour to $12 an hour by 2020, according to Amendment 70.
• Maine will incrementally increase its state minimum wage from $7.50 an hour to $12 an hour by 2020, according to Question 4.
• Washington will incrementally increase its state minimum wage from $9.47 an hour to $13.50 by 2020, according to Initiative 1433.
Additionally, in Washington state, employers will be required to provide employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. Money also reports, “Arizona will also provide workers with sick leave: 40 hours annually for those at large companies, 24 hours for those at smaller businesses, and guaranteeing one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked.”
Luckily for the millions of Americans living on minimum wage, President elect Donald Trump has no plans to fight these new numbers. In July, Trump told CNN he’d support a federal $10 minimum wage adding:
"As an example, I live in New York. It's very expensive in New York. You can't buy a hot dog for the money you're talking about. You go to other states and it's not expensive at all. Now what it does is it puts New York at a disadvantage if the minimum wage is, companies move out and things—you know, bad things happen. At the same time, people have to be taken care of. But what I'm really going to do with minimum wage, it has to go up."
Trump closed his statement in July saying, "people have to get more." Hopefully this is one campaign promise he keeps.