Arizona voters may have a chance to boost the state’s minimum wage this year.
The campaign for a ballot initiative to increase Arizona’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020 submitted more than 217,000 signatures to state officials on Thursday, July 7.
The Fair Wages and Healthy Families initiative would boost the current $8.05 minimum wage by 50 percent within four years.
If passed by voters, the measure would introduce a $10 minimum wage on Jan. 1, 2017 with increases on Jan. 1 of every year: $10.50 in 2018, $11 in 2019 and $12 in 2020. After that, the wage would rise with the cost of living each succeeding year.
An additional provision of the measure would provide mandatory sick leave for wage-earners. Businesses with fewer than 15 employees would be required to provide 24 hours each year, while those with more than 15 employees would need to provide 40 hours each year.
The campaign has collected well over the minimum requirement of signatures to reach the ballot, so barring a successful legal challenge, voters will likely be able to decide its fate in November.
“It’s not a hard sell,” said Zaira Livier, who coordinates the campaign in southern Arizona. “People generally want to help each other out.”
Livier plans on expanding the campaign’s leadership and increase support by utilizing a volunteer base of 25,000 and partnering with national organizations supporting similar initiatives in others states.
David Wade, a consultant for the campaign, said the support to get the measure on the ballot is a good indicator of how it will do in the hands of voters.
“When you tap into that need and harness that energy it corresponds with the energy of people and small businesses,” he said.
Mike Varney, president and CEO of the Tucson Metro Chamber, said that the organization has vocally opposed the idea of using government to mandate business costs since minimum wage became an issue.
“We understand there are federal guidelines and so far we’re comfortable with those guidelines,” he said. “We don’t see the need for states to change those guidelines.”
Varney cited numerous issues with raising minimum wage, such as business moving to replace workers with robots, reducing employees’ hours, moving out of state or just shutting down.
Predicting opposition from commercial interest groups, the campaign has already begun reaching out to local business owners to promote the initiative.
“By increasing the minimum wage we are providing small businesses with the opportunity to be more competitive,” said Carlos Velasco, a consultant for the campaign. “When you put more money into people’s pockets, they reinvest in the economy.”
The campaign hopes to utilize Arizona’s small business environment by promoting the idea that the money from increased wages will make its way back into the cash registers of local businesses around the state.
Velasco said the campaign hopes to collect 500 pledges from small business owners to support the initiative. The campaign currently has 35 business owners pledging their support with plans to reach out to 140 others.
The campaign plans to meet with Tucson business owners before September.
Tucson Councilmember Regina Romero supports the campaign, boiling opposition down to fear-mongering and greed in favor of CEO salaries and shareholder returns.
“I don’t think it’ll affect job creation,” she said. “Small businesses know how to manage themselves and will appreciate a smaller turnover rate.”
One of the campaigns platforms is that with less job turnover small businesses will be able to save money on training new employees.
Varney said that the majority of minimum wage earners in Arizona are part-time workers such as students who operate in a “transient employment situation” that would cause businesses to experience turnover in any case.
“If I’m using government to promote increases in business costs, I’m gonna start looking for any argument I can use to justify why this is a good idea,” he said. “If you ask business owners if this is a good idea, they’ll tell you ‘no.’”
“Research shows that it doesn’t affect the economy,” Romero countered. “It’s about economic development and developing an atmosphere for small and big businesses.”
This article appears in Jul 7-13, 2016.
When is a good time for socialism?
Unemployment went up today. 59% of black youths are unemployed. Mandated increases harm all socio economic levels. 94M Americans are not in the job market.
Obama promised us the moon in health care savings. It is nearly bankrupt and the government is lying about the hidden spending that they are doing to try to keep it afloat. Yet we were all told how much savings there would be if we all just joined the great big communal hot tub.
Take your regulations to Greece. It ought to finish them off.
It’s not a hard sell,” said Zaira Livier, who coordinates the campaign in southern Arizona. “People generally want to help each other out.”
As long as it is somebody else’s money what do I care? They owe it to us because they probably got it dishonestly. Mr Trump never worked a day in his life.
I say hell ya! Let’s take it from them. I would like more paid time off though.
12 is more realistic than 15. The minimum wage needs to at least keep up with inflation. And by 2020 12 should be about right.
The average rate of inflation the last 3 years is approximately 2.9%. At a starting point of $12 per hour the annual increase would be 34 cents. Their formula is 5% per year. Compounding annually. Not going to happen.
Rat T. All you do is speak the truth over and over again. Maybe that’s why you get almost as many dislikes as I do. The truth. Kryptonite to the left. You go girl !!.
The higher the minimum wage, the lower the employment numbers. This fact is bourne out time and time again. This town is already in the gutter; does it need to go down the drain?
Well no not always, that’s not how it panned out in puerto rico. but that is more of the exception to the rule than the rule itself.
Just make it $25.00 an hour and get it over with. By Christmas every store in Tucson will be belly-up.
A picture and quote from a fool who also was elected to Tucson Council, no surprise here. She hasn’t ever met a real payroll in her life. If passed, another reason for businesses to close and not locate to the rapidly building Socialist Republic of Tucson, Pima County and if we let them Arizona. Besides, just because it is on the ballot, further wasting Taxpayer $$, doesn’t require the State Legislature to follow through. So let them make more jobs leave Tucson for other townships, except for the developers shills in OV Town, never have seen another edifice, failing golf club nor town Taj Mahal (read “Center”) they haven’t voted to approve.
why write things off solely because they are a form of socialism? what’s wrong with having a mixed economy and mixed government? public education and social security are a form of socialism. would you favor an objectivist capitalist system where all schools are privatized and everyone needs to pay for their retirement all on their own?
Yes.
Thanks to all the people, paid and unpaid, who surfed the downtown/Fourth Ave. foot traffic for weeks rounding up the necessary signatures. That’s what it takes! And Boo! to people trying to get those efforts stopped.
David W: Boo!
Linda Ray: Yay!
Fight the ignorance.
Speaking of ignorance, why has Ratt only posted one comment here? She must be too busy commenting on her favourite teabagger websites.
You folks seem to survive on ignorance. Instead of demanding more pay have you ever considered producing more. Your collective type society is doomed to fail. Where does all this ignorance come from?
THE LEFT.
More money for illegals, taken from the dwindling number of legal earners.
5th poorest city in the country after decades of total control by liberals and damn proud of it.
Wrong, Again is so ignorant that he doesn’t realize raising the minimum wage wouldn’t even effect the pay of an undocumented immigrant. But, then again, maybe he does and he posted that because he was going through withdrawals since he hasn’t posted either one of those stupid statements in the last few comments he has posted.
Please, please, please go away Wrong, Again. Far away.
Since I entered the labor market back in 1968, when the minimum was around 12.$ in today’s money, the game has changed. While production per hour of labor has gone up (more than double), the remuneration for it has gone down. The percentages of company income that went to the employees has gone down while the percentage to the top executives and the owner’s has risen sharply. Employees in general today are making less than they have in 60 years while the owners and executives of the major corporations are making more than at any time in US history. The wealthy individuals and the largest corporations are also paying the lowest amount of taxes in over 80 years. You want to go back to the good old days? Then go back to the days when employees got properly paid for their labor and the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes.
Fair share is now a fraudulent term. Spending levels are unfair to wage earners so they have eliminated taxes on half the country. Nobody wants to fund waste., Balance the budget, and then reduce taxes making it more affordable for all. Major companies didn’t leave the country for taxes that were too low. They left because wages, combined with taxes drove them to seek cheaper operating costs.
Our government drove them out. Corporate tax rates are 39%. That is the third highest in the world.
http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/sep/09/eric-bolling/does-us-have-highest-corporate-tax-rate-free-world/
Shouldn’t the minimum wage be a livable wage? The current minimum wage equals less than 17K a year before taxes at 40 hours a week. That may be fine for a teenager living at home with minimal bills, but how do we expect adults with bills and family responsibilities to make a living on that? Maybe we need to change how we define a “living.”
And how exactly would this be any form of socialism? The form of socialism I believe you are referring to would mean everyone gets the same wage regardless. That is not the case here.
I’ve also heard the argument about people in certain jobs to be not deserving of a higher wage, particularly fast food workers. Then why have these jobs? If there are jobs we deem meaningless, then get rid of them. I agree, there are bigger and better things we could be doing as workers. But these jobs do exist, and someone needs to do them. And I don’t think working in fast food is as easy and mindless as you may think. The crap these people take from the general public should be reason enough.
Large corporations and businesses in general may say raising the minimum wage will cause a massive loss of jobs, but I simply do not believe that. How can companies posting record profits with CEOs making millions say that with a straight face? That profit is coming off the backs of the people doing the actual labor.
We seem too concerned with someone taking a piece of our pie just to get an even slice. That’s exactly what they want us to think, and we keep falling right into their trap. This election don’t forget to vote for Coke or Pepsi.
The minimum wage was never meant to be a living wage. Just like Social Security was not meant to provide 100% if your retirement needs financially.
Minimum wage is an entry point. If you are still at minimum wage levels after one year on the job, it’s time to do some soul searching. Do I plan to work at this level the rest of my life? Will/should it provide a level of income that an adult can sustain themselves on, long term?
Heck no. Better yourselves and move on. That is the basis of our economy. If minimum wage is all they offer consider moving on.
If it was $15, I’d vote against it. I think $12 is more realistic and will vote in favor of it if it is on the ballot.
Tony V I understand your point. I agree that many entry level jobs should pay minimum wage, though I do think that should be increased. The problem is the current system doesn’t support this. There are many employers who willfully keep a large amount of workers at minimum wage with little to no room for advancement. Even occupations like police officer, teacher and social worker, which provide a high value to our society, have lower wages and limited room for promotion or even pay increases. Ideally we would all work productive valuable jobs where we can earn and do more through hard work and self betterment.
The limited quantity of quality employees has increased wages for good employees. Poor quality should not be forced to reward the slackers. They need to work on self improvement. Business should not have to “raise them.” How about a little personal responsibility?
Wow! The usual right wing trailer trash mentality is well represented here! Fake stats, lies, and paranoia gushing per these sad, pathetic souls like the Colorado River before human assisted global warming! Santa Fe and several others cities have adopted increased minimum wage with no ill effects. That’s a fact. Colorado is doing so as a state; another fact. But real, verifiable facts never get in the way of a good ole right wing, Fox news flunky, trailer trash rant, but thanks for proving me right, by being so wrong…again! Please continue to be all hat and no cowboy my right wing friends. Always wrong, but always entertaining!
How about a little corporate responsibility? Most CEOs in this country are not worth the money they’re making and there are plenty of people on the bottom rung who are not being paid enough. We need to flip that inequality around and make things right.
$12 an hour isn’t asking a lot, it’s just about equivalent to what minimum wage earners were making towards the end of the 1960s. The big differences are that in the 1960s the ratio of people to jobs were better because most items used in the USA were manufactured in the USA, jobs were more stable, there were more opportunities for advancement and the middle class was a bigger percentage of people than it is now due to FAIRER wages and less wage slavery.
$12 an hour is plenty fair, considering all of those other things that I mentioned which are now a thing of the past.
Facts? The Bureau of Labor Statistics for Santa Fe reported June 9,
In March private employers spend $2.44 per hour worked for employee health benefits
At $10 per hour that is more than 20% of earnings going for healthcare (after 3 years of the affordable care act). Another 20% for Federal, State, and SS, medicare withholding. So at $15 an hour you would bring home about $7.50 so that you can rent or buy housing. Then pay property taxes, license fees on cars and city sales tax.
It looks to me like 65-75% of your pay is really not yours. It must satisfy the governments appetite.