A group advocating for worker's rights has begun gathering signatures for a ballot initiative that would increase the state's minimum wage to $12 an hour.
The fight over minimum wage has grown amid widespread worker frustration over sluggish wage growth. California and New York lawmakers are poised to pass bills lifting the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next several years.
The Fair Wages and Healthy Families Initiative would increase Arizona's minimum wage to $12 by 2020 and require employers to provide earned paid sick time. The initiative campaign has less than four months to collect more than 150,000 valid signatures necessary to get on the November ballot.
Arizona Republicans are pushing their own proposed ballot measure to increase the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2020.
