A federal appeals court has given a key victory to players on minor league baseball teams the right to sue to be paid the minimum wage while they're in spring training in Arizona.

I urge my representative, Democratic U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick and neighboring Democratic district representatives, U.S. Rep Tom O’Halleran and U.S. Rep. Raul Grijalva, to oppose raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. Arizona employees, business owners and their local communities will thank them for it.

A bid to allow employers to pay some young workers less than the voter-mandated minimum wage is effectively dead. The Senate Rules Committee voted this afternoon that the proposal by Rep. Travis Grantham, R-Gilbert, would effectively amend two separate public votes that established a state minimum wage. The first, in 2006, included a definition of "employees;'' the second in 2016 pushed the wages up to $11 an hour now, going automatically to $12 next year.

A bid to slice the minimum wage for some young workers hit a speed bump Monday as some lawmakers questioned its legality.

Legislation to allow employers to pay some young people less than the voter-mandated minimum wage cleared a crucial hurdle Thursday after its sponsor agreed it would not be tied to whether the worker was in school.

In my work since the minimum wage was passed I have heard from several working class individuals that employers are cutting benefits or keeping tips and justifying these actions by telling their employees that it is the only way they can pay the minimum wage. It seems to me that our legislature’s time would be better spent strengthening the Arizona Industrial Commission, which is in charge of investigating wage theft rather than reducing the minimum wage.

Insisting it will be good for young people, a House panel voted Monday to let employers pay students who are part-time workers just two-thirds as much as they do anyone else.

The state Court of Appeals has slapped down efforts by Republican lawmakers to block local governments from mandating that private employers provide workers with even more fringe benefits than required by state law.

As pitchers and catchers prep to report for spring training in February, Major League Baseball is trying to convince Arizona lawmakers to exempt minor league ballplayers from the state’s minimum wage law.

What would you do with an extra $1,000 a year?