To: The Arizona State House and The Arizona State Senate
Stop the assault on the minimum wage in Arizona!
HCR 2056, which would freeze the state minimum wage, is a special interest payoff that would hurt our state's working families. We demand that the Arizona Legislature stop the assault on Arizona workers by pulling this bill. We support a strong minimum wage that will bring jobs and opportunity back to Arizona and reward hard work and individual effort by Arizona citizens.
Why is this important?
Arizona House Majority Leader Steve Court and his fellow Republicans in the State Legislature still just don't get it when it comes to protecting a liveable wage for low income Arizona workers.
Last week, Rep. Court sponsored HCR 2056, a proposal to cut the minimum wage by $3 per hour for workers under the age of 20, and by $2 per hour for tipped employees. This economically draconian bill was endorsed 5-3 by the Arizona House Commerce Committee and looked poised to become law.
The good news is that the 99% in Arizona are vigilant. Due to public outcry and widespread media attention both within and outside of our state, the worst has been averted and the proposals affecting tipped workers and youth have been dropped.
But the resulting bill is small comfort to Arizona's working poor. It would reverse a 2006 voter approved measure allowing for inflation adjustments to the state minimum wage, freezing the current $7.65 per hour state minimum and limiting further increases except when required by federal law.
A strong minimum wage is a critical part of bringing back jobs and opportunity to Arizonans. It puts money in the pockets working people who will spend the money immediately and locally.
This helps everyone, the 99% and the 1%: businesses small and large see increases in demand for goods and services, leading them to hire more people to keep up with demand.
With the economy making small, fragile improvements, now is not the time to freeze the wages of those who will spend money in our communities and contribute to our local economy. We need our Legislature to invest in workers, not force them further into poverty.
If we keep speaking up, maybe our state legislature will finally realize that assaults on low income workers are a "lose, lose" proposal.