The Chamber Board of Directors took action this month to oppose the $12 per hour minimum wage ballot initiative which turned in over 200,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s office last week. The measure proposed to raise the minimum wage 90 cents on January 1, 2017 and ratchet up to $12 by January 1, 2020. Eric Fruits, the President and Chief Economist of Economics International Corp. estimates that 90,000 jobs will be lost if the measure passes. Those most affected will be younger workers who already have the highest unemployment rate in the state. He argues that the 44% increase in the compressed time frame of four years will force businesses to cut jobs to compensate for shifting expenditures.
Colorado already has a constitutional amendment that mandates a higher rate than the national minimum wage and fluctuates annually based on the rate of inflation.
Click here to download full version of the Grand Junction Area Chamber of Commerce August 2016 Newsletter.