Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams said Thursday that an initiative to lift the state minimum wage to $12 an hour had gathered enough signatures to make the November ballot.
Supporters of Initiative 101 had gathered 189,419 signatures, of which 114,939 were estimated to be valid after taking a random sample of 5 percent of the total. The petitions had 116.7 percent of the 98,492 signatures needed to qualify.
Colorado’s current minimum wage is at $8.31 an hour, and adjusts annually based on the underlying consumer inflation rate. The proposal would lift it to $12 an hour by 2020. The wage for tipped workers, currently at $5.21 an hour, would go up to $8.90.
“We want to make sure we acknowledge this moment and celebrate,” said Lizeth Chacon, co-chair of Colorado Families for a Fair Wage. “We are going to continue to raise money for this initiative and make sure we put a good field program out there.”
Chacon acknowledged the minimum wage proposal will have to compete for attention on a crowded ballot. But she said the issue is one that will draw in people who otherwise might not vote and that resonates with the many people getting squeezed by rising living costs, especially for housing.
“We know that Coloradans are with us and they realize it is hard to make a living in our community on the current minimum wage,” she said.
A study from the Bell Policy Center, a supporter of the initiative, estimates that by 2020, an estimated 420,000 workers or about 19 percent of the state’s labor force, will receive a wage hike if the measure passes.
Dispelling the perception that teenagers fill the ranks of minimum wage workers, about 86 percent of those benefiting will be older than 20 and 45 percent will have some college education or a completed degree, Bell estimates.
Colorado Families for a Fair Wage has raised $1.16 million through July 27 for its campaign, the bulk of that coming from national groups advocating for a $15 an hour minimum wage nationally. Chacon said the campaign also has a strong base of local volunteers across several different nonprofits.
Keep Colorado Working, the coalition in opposition to the measures, argues that Colorado has already raised its minimum wage 61 percent the past 10 years and that lifting it another 44 percent through 2020 goes too far.
“While large corporations in Denver can probably absorb the increased costs, it will be devastating to small and family-owned businesses, particularly in rural and less affluent communities in Colorado,” said Tyler Sandberg, a spokesman for Keep Colorado Working.
A study the group cites from the Common Sense Policy Roundtable estimates Colorado could lose 90,000 jobs if it adopts a $12 an hour minimum wage as employers eliminate jobs and as businesses unable to pass on higher labor costs to their customers close.
Passage would also exacerbate the state’s already high teen unemployment rate and result in high school graduates taking on more debt to attend college given the reduced number of jobs available to them, the study argues.
Keep Colorado Working, which registered with the state as an issue committee on July 1, reported having raised $113,313.95 through July 27. Of that amount, $100,000 was contributed by the Hospitality Issue PAC.
The Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, the state’s largest business group, is also urging its members to oppose the minimum wage measure and contribute to Keep Colorado Working.
Williams and his staff have until Sept. 7 to review signatures on petitions for another eight initiatives. As many as 11 initiatives could make the ballot this year, assuming they all have gathered enough valid signatures.
