An Arizona Senate committee has approved a proposal that would ask voters to roll back a minimum wage initiative they approved in 2016.
The proposal from more than a dozen Republican lawmakers freezes the minimum wage at the current $10.50 an hour and repeals mandatory sick time included in the 2016 voter-approved law. It passed Monday on a 5-3 party-line vote.
Business owners testified that the wage and sick time hikes in Proposition 206 have made it harder to find workers and forced them to cut employment. Workers testified they were finally able to nearly earn a living wage.
The 2016 ballot measure raised the minimum wage to $10 in 2017, with gradual increases after that. It also required employers to give workers at least three sick days a year.