Wage Hikes Popular With Voters, Strategic Headache for Businesses

Minimum wage increases tend to be winning propositions when put to a popular vote.

“At both the federal and state level the constant changing of regulations makes it almost impossible to strategically plan for a business,” said Chris Tyll, who owns a pizza shop and a bowling alley in Portland, Maine. Voters there approved a minimum wage hike in November that increased the wage floor to $9 on Jan. 1. It had been $7.50 per hour.

The Maine ballot question was problematic for businesses because “it dealt with three distinctly separate issues,” Tyll told Bloomberg BNA. In addition to fixed ...