Chairmanship of the ballot committee seeking to raise minimum wage has switched from union hands to those of Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-13, and the outspoken legislator is eager to launch a statewide bus tour to dispel what he deems to be myths presented by the initiative’s opponents.
“We want to be able to put an end to the fallacies that opponents have been spreading,” he said of opponents of Prop. 202.
Recent measures to raise minimum pay standards in other states have not resulted in the dire consequences predicted by business groups such as higher unemployment and less economic output, said Mr. Gallardo, who has unsuccessfully pushed for legislation to raise minimum pay standards for years.
The measure would affect roughly 150,000 full-time workers that earn a minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. Single mothers account for two-thirds of that number, and not teenagers working for extra spending money, he said.
“Many of these folks don’t have other options,” he said. “And these are the people we’re trying to help.”
But the initiative would not help the people with limited alternatives, and in fact would do much to harm them, said Rep. Russell Pearce, R-18.
As written, the initiative would only drive “already unscrupulous” employers to cut the added costs by replacing workers with illegal aliens, said Mr. Pearce, who spars frequently on the House floor with Mr. Gallardo.
The higher costs would also be passed onto consumers, hurt those with fixed incomes, jeopardize personal privacy by allowing unfettered government access to private business records, and also lead to higher “stealth taxes” necessary to establish a government body to impose the new standard and investigate businesses, he said.
Though he said the initiative will be easy for people to vote for because it could make people “feel good” to cast a vote that they believe will help the poor, his overall assessment is quite clear.
“This is one of the worst ballot initiatives out there,” he said. “And there are plenty of them.”
Replaces Rebekah Friend
In the new role, Mr. Gallardo replaces Rebekah Friend, president of the Arizona chapter of the AFL-CIO, whom he credits for succeeding at getting the measure on the 2006 general election ballot.
He expects the 10-day tour of “every little city and town” to begin in early October, and to include labor leaders, people that hold jobs that pay the federal minimum wage standard, Democratic legislators (for varying time spans) and congressmen, and possibly Gov. Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Terry Goddard.
Arizona joins Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio and Colorado, with its inclusion of the minimum wage raising initiative on the November general ballot, according to the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center.
In 2004, California, Florida, Oregon and Washington all raised their minimum wage standards above the federal minimum level of $5.15 an hour through ballot initiatives, according to the group.
Arizona is one of 6 states in the nation to rely on the federal level. Twenty states have surpassed the federal minimum standard through the use of legislation, according to the BISC.