Fast food lobbyists say the higher California minimum wage law led to a loss of nearly 10,000 jobs. The claim is baseless.
I don't think this is actually about needing to pay wages, I believe that the real target is the fast food worker council that was created to make these changes. I think they're going for a tried and true method to gain conservative sympathy, but Republicans are self-segregating away from California and their political influence is waning in the state.
They are correct - placing a price floor on a supply demand relationship (like employee/employers) does create a dead weight loss and a move away from equilibrium.
But when you consider how much money places like this make, you know very well its not the costing jobs they care about.