Ariz. high court to rule on minimum wage law

Business coalition says measure lacks funding as constitution requires

PHOENIX — The state Supreme Court is set to decide whether hundreds of thousands of Arizona workers see a boost in their pay starting Jan. 1 under terms of a voterapproved measure boosting minimum wages.

The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry is leading a coalition of business groups urging the high court to block the increase. They argue that even though Proposition 206 exempts state employees from the raise, Arizona will be forced to boost pay for healthcare and social-services contractors and pay to enforce the new law. They say backers of the measure failed to include a new funding source as required under the state Constitution.

The chamber also argues the measure illegally includes a second part requiring employers to include sick time, violating rules that say initiatives can only address one subject.

A trial judge rejected both arguments last week in a ruling now being appealed by the chamber.

“If allowed to stand, the trial court’s decision allows drafters of ballot initiatives to spend unlimited amounts from the state’s general fund without implicating the Arizona Constitution’s revenue source rule, provided their initiatives are cleverly crafted carefully enough to avoid explicit mention of such expenditures,” the chamber’s attorneys wrote in court papers. “Proponents will also be allowed to logroll disparate policy matters into a single initiative, so long as those policies touch the same general area of life.”

Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office is defending the law along with proponents of Proposition 206 and his response to the chamber appeal was due by the close of business Wednesday.

But Proposition 206 backers’ response filed at midday said the judge was right when he rejected the single-subject argument and found that the measure didn’t trigger mandatory state spending.The measure raises the minimum wage from $8.05 an hour to $10 on Jan. 1 and to $12 in 2020.