The Denver Post, Colorado’s largest circulation newspaper, editorialized against the state adopting a $12-an-hour minimum wage, warning readers that a ballot proposal to do that, known as Amendment 70, was well-intended but overreaches.
“We worry that it could actually hurt low-wage earners more than it would help them, especially the young, new workers the law has traditionally served. We worry also that its price increases could disproportionately hurt Colorado’s restaurant industry, which would be dangerous in this state that benefits strongly from tourists — who spent more than $19 billion here last year,” the newspaper’s editorial board warned.
The paper noted that, if approved, businesses across the state would face a sharp increase in labor costs “likely resulting in higher prices for goods and services as employers in all sectors, private and public, pass along costs to customers.”
The current minimum wage in Colorado is $8.31, more than a dollar above the federal minimum rate of $7.25. States are free to set their rates above the federal level.
The Post editorial board said it was not opposed to a higher minimum in principle, instead calling for an increase to $10.10, which it termed a “reasonable” amount. “But that’s not what’s on the table, and we ask Coloradans to consider the unintended consequences and vote ‘no’ on Amendment 70,” the editorial said.
Colorado is one of four states with minimum wage increases on the ballot in the fall. Voters in Arizona and Maine also will be asked whether their state’s bottom rate should be $12 an hour, while Washington state voters will decide if theirs should climb to $13.50.
