minimum wage

Court refuses to enjoin the minimum wage initiative; hearing set for Tuesday

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Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kiley refused a request by Chamber of Commerce organizations to immediately block the voter-approved hike in the minimum wage from taking effect as scheduled next year. the Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports, Judge refuses to block minimum wage hike:

RaiseTheWageKiley said there’s no basis for him to even consider whether to delay enforcement on the law, much less decide its constitutionality.

If nothing else, the judge noted that the challenge was filed only a day earlier. He said that means those defending the law — including both the attorney general’s office and Proposition 206 supporters — have not had a “fair opportunity” to respond to the allegations.

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Kiley did agree to consider the legal arguments in depth this coming Tuesday.

Kiley rejected claims by challengers that leaving the law in place before the full-blown hearing on its legality will cause hardship for employers.

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Chambers of Commerce sue to overturn the will of the voters on Minimum Wage Initiative

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RaiseTheWageThe incoming Speaker of the House, J.D. Mesnard, just happened to suggest on Monday that there appears to be legal grounds for someone to sue to overturn the Prop. 206 minimum wage hike approved by voters, but it won’t be him (wink, wink). House speaker mulls minimum wage lawsuit:

As to litigation, Mesnard said at this point he’s moving to take the case to court.

“I’m not spearheading anything,” he said. “Until today, I had no legal staff on hand,” Mesnard said, saying others may have to take the lead.

Mesnard does not need to file a lawsuit when he has the masters he serves in the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry to do it for him. Mesnard’s feigned knowledge of a lawsuit was political Kabuki theater. He was coordinating with the Chamber and he knew full well when he made his “suggestion” of a lawsuit that the Chamber was prepared to file a lawsuit to overturn the will of the voters this week. Suit filed to block minimum wage hike:

Unable to defeat it at the ballot, business interests are now trying to get a judge to void the voter-approved hike in the state minimum wage.

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Pamela Powers Hannley, Ana Henderson

#LD9: Know Your Candidates before You Vote

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Pamela Powers Hannley, Ana Henderson

Residents of Legislative District 9 have a clear choice for Arizona House. Two Democrats Rep. Randy Friese and Pamela Powers Hannley are running against Tea Party candidate Ana Henderson.

The Clean Elections debate revealed major differences between Henderson’s extreme Tea Party positions and the two Democrats’ views.

To simplify your voting decision, I revised my ven diagram comparing where I stand on the issues and where Henderson stands.

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Randy Friese, Pamela Powers Hannley, Ana Henderson

#LD9 Voters – Can’t Decide How to Vote? Watch the Debate (video)

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Randy Friese, Pamela Powers Hannley, Ana Henderson

The Arizona Clean Elections Commission recently hosted a debate between the three candidates vying for two seats in the Arizona House: Democrats Rep. Randy Friese and Pamela Powers Hannley (me) and Tea Party Republican Ana Henderson.

This debate was the first candidate forum that Henderson participated in with the two Democrats, and it’s likely the last. With 75 or more people from both parties, the debate was well-attended. The audience submitted many great questions. Some questions are asked of all candidates– like education funding, climate change, Prop 205 (marijuana legalization), and Prop 206 (raising the minimum wage).

Below is the video.

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Rep. Randy Friese, Pamela Powers Hannley and Ana Henderson

#LD9 Debate Reveals Clear Choices Between Dem & GOP Candidates

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Rep. Randy Friese, Pamela Powers Hannley and Ana Henderson
LD9 candidates for House: Rep. Randy Friese, Pamela Powers Hannley and Ana Henderson

Rep. Randy Friese, Pamela Powers Hannley (me), and Ana Henderson– the three candidates for the two Legislative District 9 seats in the Arizona House– faced off on Friday night in front of a packed house for the LD9 Clean Elections Debate.

This was the first event– and perhaps the only event– in which voters got to hear all three candidates. Friese and I were the only LD9 candidates who appeared at the Pima County Interfaith Council Candidate Forum, the candidate forum sponsored by the UA pre-law candidate forum, the Arizona Daily Star candidate interview and Pride on Parade— besides all of the joint events with Matt Kopec during the primary. (OK, so Pride wasn’t a candidate forum, but many candidates turned out to show their support for the LGBTQ community and celebrate diversity.)

So– even though this is the first time that most of us got to hear Henderson talk, we learned a lot about her views. Climate change, reproductive choice, homelessness, corporate tax cuts, minimum wage, public banking, gun violence, and, of course, education– the three of us fielded a wide variety of questions from the audience last night. (I’ll link the full video when it is available on the Clean Elections YouTube channel.)

Here’s we learned about Ana Henderson at the debate.

She’s against raising the minimum wage. (She said it’s bad for business, and government shouldn’t be meddling in business– except to dole out more corporate welfare. In a town with a 25% poverty rate, too many workers are just scraping by in the gig economy. They can’t buy the goods businesses are selling if they have no expendable income.)

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