A Colorado political group says it has enough signatures to force a November vote on a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage to $6.85 an hour.
Coloradans for a Fair Minimum Wage wants to boost the wage in this state from the current federally mandated minimum of $5.15 an hour.
Supporters plan to turn in more than 120,000 petition signatures to the secretary of state’s office today, said Brandon Hall, the group’s campaign manager. That would be nearly double the required 67,829 valid signatures to place an initiative on the ballot.
“Workers in Colorado deserve an increase in minimum wage, and I think it’s a great issue for candidates of either party to run on,” Hall said.
The drive has already acquired at least one prominent opponent.
The Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce board said it would be against any initiative to raise the minimum wage.
The chamber played a prominent role in last year’s successful Referendum C campaign to keep more tax money in public coffers.
“Businesses need the flexibility to make a decision regarding salaries. This proposition would place salary decisions on autopilot,” said Tamra Ward, vice president of public affairs at the chamber.
If the minimum-wage group is successful in placing its initiative on the ballot here, Colorado will become one of six states weighing local changes to federal minimum-wage standard. The others are Arizona, Nevada, Montana, Missouri and Ohio. An additional 24 states have passed wage hikes higher than the federal minimum.
In Washington, D.C., senators are expected to vote soon on a bill that includes a plan to raise the minimum wage to $7.25. That measure, embraced by Senate Democrats and some Republicans, is attached to a bill to cut the estate tax, which many Democrats oppose.
Republican leaders say they will block any effort to pass a minimum-wage increase without also making an estate-tax cut.
States have the ability either to embrace the federal minimum-wage standard or set their own minimum wage, either through legislative action or a constitutional amendment.
Hall said he had polling data that showed a minimum-wage hike would draw broad support among Colorado voters.
He said his group, which is supported by the AFL-CIO and other nonprofit political groups, has spent $200,000 so far on the campaign.
Hall said he will disclose more details about the proposal when he and his group deliver their signatures to the secretary of state’s office.
For all the interest in raising the minimum wage, only about 1.5 percent of Colorado workers actually work for $5.15, according to research from the Colorado Legislative Council.
Workers at Good Times Burgers start at $6 an hour and quickly move up to the $7-$8 range, said Boyd Hoback, president and chief executive.
Workers are rewarded with bonuses of 50 cents to $1 an hour if they have good attendance, Hoback said.
“If you talk to any restaurant in Colorado, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone making minimum wage,” Hoback said. “We would much rather have higher-paid, cross-trained employees.”
Low-wage workers are in high demand as housekeepers and in other hospitality-industry positions, said Deborah Dix, a spokeswoman for the Brown Palace Hotel and Spa in Denver.
“It’s hard to find workers. Everyone’s having trouble,” Dix said. “So there’s a need for people at the minimum-wage level.”
Staff writer Beth Potter can be reached at 303-820-1503 or bpotter@denverpost.com.
