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.
They should be required to pay a bonus to every worker based on their profit.