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The group backing a ballot measure seeking to raise the state’s minimum wage announced early Thursday it would pull the proposal from consideration to focus its resources on pushing a similar measure through the Arizona Legislature next year.
One Fair Wage and Raise the Wage AZ turned in about 354,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office in July — just under 100,000 more than the 256,000 it needed to qualify for the ballot.
That’s a relatively small cushion for the campaign because those signatures still need to undergo a verification process by election officials who will ensure those who signed petitions for the proposal were legally eligible to do so.
One Fair Wage is also facing a lawsuit filed by the Arizona Restaurant Association that is seeking to invalidate a bulk of the signatures it gathered.
Jim Barton, an attorney for the campaign, said One Fair Wage has decided to withdraw its signatures due to the likelihood it wouldn’t qualify for the ballot.
“You get to the point where you say, ‘We see where this is going,’ and you don’t want counties to expend resources on this,” Barton said, referring to the county election officials who must verify the campaign’s petition signatures.
Rather than spend resources on costly litigation defending the ballot measure, Barton said the campaign would rather use its resources “in other ways to improve lives for working people.”
That includes backing state and federal legislation to raise the state’s minimum wage, according to a press release.
According to the release, the group plans to back a bill next year sponsored by Rep. Marianna Sandoval, a Goodyear Democrat running for re-election to the Arizona House of Representatives.
“I will never stop trying to lift hard-working Arizonans out of poverty, and this legislation will be a game-changer to raise the minimum wage for all workers and also end the subminimum wage for tipped workers,” Sandoval said in a statement.
In a statement, Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, said the group will now shift its focus to supporting candidates who pledge to back the measure.
The shift comes as Democrats seek to take control of one or both chambers in the Arizona Legislature, which would likely be necessary if Sandoval’s forthcoming legislation has any chance to pass. This year, Republican lawmakers unanimously voted for a competing ballot measure backed by the Arizona Restaurant Association that would let businesses pay tipped workers 25% less than the minimum wage if they can prove the worker would be making the minimum wage plus $2 including tips.
Barton, One Fair Wage’s attorney, says the group will also continue its efforts to challenge that measure. A trial court judge recently allowed the Republican measure to remain on the ballot, a ruling Barton says they will appeal.
The Secretary of State’s office said it needs a court order to officially withdraw the campaign’s signatures from the verification process, which is expected to wrap up on Aug. 22.
And on Thursday, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge signed a judgment finding the campaign did not gather enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.
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