Disabled workers must be paid a wage of at least $6.75 an hour as mandated by recently passed Prop. 202, said Attorney General Terry Goddard in a legal opinion on Feb. 7.
The opinion came at the behest of Rep. John McComish, R-20, who sought a formal answer if Prop. 202 specifically trumped state and federal labor laws affecting the developmentally disabled community.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the disabled community can be exempted from the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour. And state law forbids any political subdivision from forcing employers to pay employees above the federal standard.
Prop. 202 does not specifically repeal the existing state law, but its provisions stand because it is a more-recently imposed enactment, wrote Goddard
Last week, the Legislative Council issued an opinion that a proposed bill to create a wage exemption for the disabled community would probably be invalid under state law.
In Arizona, measures passed by ballot initiatives can be amended only to further the purposes of the act, and changes require a three-fourth supermajority approval by the Legislature.
The sweeping wage change brought by Prop 202 ignited controversy among advocates of the disabled. Many say the handicapped community must be paid equally and others state the wage boost prevents substantially disabled Arizonans from working by adding unaffordable expenses to non-profit work centers.
Rep. Michele Reagan, R-8, said the opinion would certainly affect the future her bill H2318, which exempts disabled workers. But the opinion fails to answer “how the clients in sheltered work centers can continue to have jobs.”
She expressed confidence the Governor’s Council of Developmental Disabilities and providers of care for the disabled will reach a conclusion “sooner rather than later” without legislation.