PHOENIX (AP) - The Latest on a legal challenge to Arizona’s new voter-approved minimum wage increase (all times local):
1 p.m.
Arizona Supreme Court justices had tough questions for proponents and opponents of the state’s voter-approved minimum wage increase as they weighed whether increased state costs invalidate the measure.
Thursday’s arguments come more than two months after low-wage earners in the state saw their pay increase to a minimum $10 per hour from $8.05.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business groups argued that higher state costs for elderly and disabled care trigger a state Constitutional provision requiring a new funding source.
But the attorney general and backers of Proposition 206 say the higher costs aren’t mandated because they go to contractors.
Justices questioned how voters could ever pass an initiative without states costs and how the higher spending isn’t required. A ruling is expected “in due course.”
3 a.m.
The Arizona Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to a minimum wage boost approved by voters.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other business groups brought the suit to be heard Thursday. The chamber contends Proposition 206 violates a state constitutional provision requiring initiatives to identify a funding source for increased state costs.
The state is exempt, but some agencies expect higher costs for contractors.
Initiative backers and Attorney General Mark Brnovich are defending the law. They say the state isn’t compelled to pay the higher costs and a trial court judge agreed.
Proposition 206 was approved by 58 percent of Arizona voters in November. It raised the minimum wage from $8.05 an hour to $10 an hour on Jan. 1 and to $12 in 2020.
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