Superior Court judge refuses to block minimum wage hike

Regional News

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Saying there are no constitutional violations, a judge on Wednesday refused to block the voter-approved law that requires employers to pay their workers at least $10 an hour beginning Jan. 1.

In a setback for business interests, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley rebuffed their arguments that Proposition 206 legally should have been split into two separate measures, one to raise the hourly wage in steps — it eventually would hit $12 by 2020 — and the other to require that employers give workers at least three days of paid personal leave.

The judge said requirements for separate ballot measures applies only to constitutional provisions. By contrast, Proposition 206 simply amends statute.

And Kiley said even if that were not the case, both the idea of raising wages and providing paid time off are sufficiently interrelated to the “minimum conditions of employment.”

Kiley also said there was no merit to the claim the initiative violates a constitutional provision which requires any voter-approved measure to have a dedicated source of revenues to cover any costs to the state.

There is no direct hit to the state, as its employees are exempt from the initiative. But officials of the Arizona Health Care Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program, contend the agency is required by federal law to maintain an adequate network of private contractors for nursing home and in-home care.