Four States Vote to Raise the Minimum Wage Tuesday
Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Washington passed ballot initiatives Tuesday to increase the minimum wage. And in South Dakota, voters rejected a measure to decrease the minimum wage for workers under 18.
Tuesday was a win for workers fighting to raise the minimum wage in every state where the issue was put before voters.
Arizona, Colorado, Maine, and Washington passed ballot initiatives Tuesday to increase the minimum wage, according to the Associated Press.
“Tonight’s resounding win for economic equality sends a strong message to all of Washington: If you’re not working to create a fair economy, we’ll do it ourselves,” said Jonathan Schleifer, executive director of the Fairness Project, a supporter and funder of these minimum wage ballot initiatives, in a press release.
Fifty-nine percent of voters in Arizona passed Proposition 206 to raise the minimum wage to $12 by 2020 and to ensure 40 hours of paid sick time for workers in large organizations and 24 hours for those in smaller companies, as Rewire previously reported. After 2020, the minimum wage will undergo annual adjustments to account for increases in the cost of living.
Colorado passed Amendment 70 with 54 percent voting to increase the minimum wage to $12 by 2020, with annual adjustments to account for increases in the cost of living.
Fifty-five percent of Maine voters supported Question 4 to enact a $12 minimum wage by 2020, end the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers by 2024, and have annual adjustments to account for increases in the cost of living.
Washington’s Initiative 1433 garnered 60 percent of the votes to enact a $13.50 minimum wage by 2020 and require employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked starting in 2018, with annual adjustments to account for increases in the cost of living.
“Ballot initiative wins in 2016 mark a new moment in American politics where voters will no longer wait for politicians—who have failed them time and time again—to fix our broken economy,” Schleifer said in the release.
In South Dakota, 71 percent of voters rejected Referred Law 20, which would have established a youth minimum wage of $7.50 an hour for workers under 18, according to news reports. It was the only state in the nation this year with a measure to decrease the minimum wage, which currently sits at $8.55 an hour, for some residents.