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Arizona Minimum Wage Initiative Set for November Ballot


Minimum wage issues have continued to develop around the country over the past few months.  Some cities and states such as California and New York have taken steps to raise the minimum wage rates, while others, such as New Jersey and Minneapolis have declined to raise wage rates.  Recently, there has been some movement on the issue in Arizona.  As a result, I think it is important to highlight a few key points in regard to this fight to increase the minimum wage rate in the state:


Judge Tosses Challenge to Minimum Wage Ballot Measure:  A few weeks ago, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joshua Roberts threw out a case that sought to challenge the signatures gathered that would put a minimum wage ballot measure before voters in November.  In doing so, this now paves the way for voters in the state to decide in November whether to raise minimum wage rates to $12/hour by 2020 (the current minimum wage rate is $8.05/hour).

Minimum Wage Issue Could Impact Senate Race:  Given that this is an election year and Senator John McCain is up for re-election, Ryan Heinsius over at KNAU notes that this issue could impact the election.  Currently, Senator McCain opposes a minimum wage increase while his challenger, Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick, supports the effort to raise minimum wage rates to $12/hour by 2020.  However, based upon the apparent support by voters to raise wages, that begs the question:  Will Congresswoman Kirkpatrick's support for a minimum wage increase impact their decision to vote for her in the Senate race?

Voters Appear to Support Minimum Wage Hike:  As AZCentral.com writes, 61% of voters favor raising the minimum wage rate in the state.  Perhaps one of the least surprising results of this poll is the fact that 87% of Democrats support the initiative.  As noted above, assuming these numbers hold, it will be interesting to see what impact (if any) it has on the Senate race.


Given how the poll numbers have played out so far, I think this minimum wage ballot measure certainly stands a fair chance of being approved by voters in November.  While things can change, the vote in Arizona could prove to be a catalyst for other cities and states to put similar minimum wage initiatives on the ballot going forward.

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