Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Toss wage raise, court asked
Opponents of the effort to raise Arkansas’ minimum wage asked the Arkansas Supreme Court on Tuesday to toss the measure off November’s ballot.
Arkansans for a Strong Economy, a registered ballot-question committee led by Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce President Randy Zook, argued it should be disqualified because the secretary of state’s office approved invalid signatures from the group that petitioned to have the measure placed on the Nov. 6 ballot.
If approved by voters, the proposed initiated act would increase the state’s minimum wage from $8.50 per hour to $9.25 an hour on Jan. 1, then to $10 in 2020 and $11 in 2021.
Zook said last month that his committee was planning a legal challenge.
In Tuesday’s petition to the high court, Arkansans for a Strong Economy alleged that the ballot-question committee pushing for the minimum-wage increase — Arkansans for a Fair Wage — failed to gather enough valid signatures and ensure that all its paid canvassers were registered with the secretary of state’s office.
“This was a sloppy petition effort, pushing a policy that would be detrimental for our state,” Zook said in a news release. “Implementing a minimum wage hike, when our state’s minimum wage is already higher than all of our surrounding states, would hurt the Arkansas economy, and ultimately, it would hurt the Arkansas workers it alleges to help.”
David Couch, an attorney for Arkansans for a Fair Wage, said the group took all the appropriate steps to ensure that its canvassers were lawfully registered. He added that the committee was confident it submitted enough valid signatures.
“The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce speaks for big business and corporate special interests — not the health care workers, classroom aides and waitresses who Initiative 5 will help,” Couch said in a statement. “Arkansas voters deserve the chance to vote up or down on a wage increase this November. Arkansans for a Fair Wage will defend our petitions and the voters who signed them.”
The secretary of state’s office last month certified that Arkansans for a Fair Wage had submitted 84,536 signatures of registered voters. Under the state constitution, 67,887 valid signatures are required to qualify for this year’s ballot.
The group initially submitted slightly more than the required number of signatures. After elections officials certified three-quarters of those signatures, the group submitted a second batch of signatures after being given a 30-day “cure period.”
Arkansans for a Strong Economy argued Tuesday that minimum wage hike supporters failed to gather the 50,916 valid signatures qualify for the cure period.
“There is a clearly outlined process in place for putting a measure on the ballot, and Arkansas voters expect that process to be followed,” Zook said. “It wasn’t here.”
Arkansans for a Fair Wage disputed that notion, and Couch said that his group believes that many of the signatures that elections officials invalidated should have been counted.
“We’re going to ask [the Supreme Court] that if they’re going to take some signatures out there’s a lot that should be put back in,” Couch said.
A spokesman for the secretary of state’s office declined to comment on Tuesday.
In 2014, Arkansans approved a similar initiated act to raise the minimum wage from $6.25 per hour to $8.50 an hour over a three-year period. The Legislature had last raised the minimum wage in 2006.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, and Missouri is the only state that borders Arkansas with a minimum wage ($7.85 per hour) that exceeds the federal level.
Arkansans for a Strong Economy claims that the proposed wage increase would hurt the state’s economy. In a news release from the group, Montine McNulty, CEO of the Arkansas Hospitality Association, said that small, family-owned businesses would be hit particularly hard by the wage increase.
“Unfortunately, a mandatory increase like the one proposed may wind up costing jobs, increasing prices, or resulting in reduced hours for workers, as many of our small-business owners will struggle to stay afloat,” McNulty said.
Conversely, Arkansans for a Fair Wage in its news release quoted a small-business owner who said that raising the minimum wage would give people more money to spend at local businesses.
“Many small-business owners already pay more than the minimum wage and the training, dedication and loyalty that provides is passed down to our customers in how they are treated,” said Chris George, owner of Joshua’s Fine Jewelry in Russellville.
“It’s a win-win for business and hard-working Arkansans.” Information for this article was contributed by Michael R. Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.