In September 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) signed legislation creating a new regulatory framework for the state’s fast-food industry. It included a first-of-its-kind body known as the Fast Food Council.The council, a 10-member board housed within the Department of Industrial Relations, included representatives of labor, employers, and state government. And it was empowered to set industry-wide standards for fast-food restaurants operating in the Golden State, including wages, hours, and workplace conditions, for chains with 100 or more locations nationwide.“California is committed to ensuring that the men and women who have helped build our world-class economy are able to share in the state’s prosperity,” Newsom said.
If this is commitment, one wonders what neglect looks like. For nearly a year and a half, the “groundbreaking” Fast Food Council has been dormant. Leaderless since May 2025 and inactive since February of that year, it has failed to perform even its basic functions.
As Restaurant Business noted in December 2025, the council is legally required to “meet no less than every six months.” One would think that the story might have prompted action, but it did not. Recent reports show the council is still in limbo. The only thing that remains operative, apparently, is the body’s $1.1 million budget of taxpayer funds.
