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Legal Fight Brewing Over Arizona’s Penalization of Cities, Towns, & Counties With Higher Wage Rates Than the State

 

Readers might remember that in 2016, voters in Flagstaff approved an hourly wage rate of $15.  However, that wage rate was (and still is) higher than the statewide hourly wage rate of $12.15.  The bad news comes in when you recall that there is a law in place that cities, towns, and counties cannot approve a higher wage rate than the statewide wage rate.  If that happens, the city, town, or county is required to reimburse the state for costs associated with that higher wage rate.

Currently, there is a lawsuit pending in Maricopa County Superior Court to challenge this penalty provision.  The outcome of that lawsuit remains to be seen.

With that being said, voters in Tucson are scheduled to vote on a similar measure in November which would result in a $15/hour wage rate by 2025.  However, one might assume that voters might be a bit gun shy about approving a higher wage rate if it would result in penalties being imposed for a wage rate higher than $12.15/hour.  A smart special interest group could drum up fear/anger/concern/etc. heading into the November vote in an effort to defeat the measure.

First thing will be to see if the lawsuit in Maricopa County gets resolved before November.  If it does, that will provide clarity, one way or the other for voters in Tucson.  If there is no ruling before November, the question will be whether Tucson voters feel like rolling the dice.  Stay tuned.


For additional information:  https://tucson.com/news/local/arizona-penalizing-cities-with-own-minimum-wage-could-affect-tucson-vote/article_5c97d6ae-f47c-11eb-b11a-3bf8a2eb37f5.html

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