Attorney General Leslie Rutledge on Friday rejected a proposed initiated act that would gradually increase the state’s minimum wage from $8.50 to $12 an hour by 2022 and allow local governments to set higher minimum wages.
The attorney general’s certification of the popular name and ballot title for a proposed initiated act is required to allow the sponsor to begin collecting 67,887 signatures of registered voters by July 6 to qualify the proposed measure for the Nov. 6 general election ballot. Also, sponsors of proposals must publish their proposals by June 6.
The initiated act, proposed by attorney David Couch of Little Rock, would raise the state’s minimum wage from the current $8.50 to $9.25 per hour on Jan. 1, 2019; to $10 on Jan. 1, 2020; to $11 on Jan. 1, 2021; and to $12 on Jan. 1, 2022. The proposal also would allow counties, cities and towns to adopt a higher local minimum wage.
In 2014, Arkansas voters approved a proposed initiated act drafted by Couch that gradually increased the minimum wage from $6.25 per hour initially to $8.50 per hour last year.
Regarding Rutledge’s rejection of his latest ballot measure, Couch said Friday in a written statement that “this is the 63rd citizen submitted ballot title she has rejected this election cycle.
“We will resubmit our initiative again and are considering joining the pending legal action challenging the constitutionality of her action in refusing to approve ballot titles,” Couch said.
In response, Rutledge spokesman Nicole Ryan said Friday that “in 2016, the Arkansas Supreme Court set a high bar for proposals to be determined as sufficiently clear to appear on the ballot.
“Based on that standard set by the Supreme Court, Attorney General Rutledge’s responsibility is to ensure voters fully understand what a ‘for’ or ‘against’ vote means,” Ryan said in a written statement.