The News-Press 21
October 20, 2016
YOUR ELECTION GUIDE • Candidates in county, state and congressional races share their views • Ballot initiatives target many issues • Find out what you need to know about voter and ballot information • Check out maps of election districts and facts about party registration by county
Voters to decide on minimum wage increase Single-payer health care, aid in dying and primary elections are among ballot issues By Kyle Harding kharding@coloradocommunitymedia.com Small business owner Janelle Sullivan believes Colorado’s minimum wage should be raised but says a proposed increase on this year’s ballot goes too far. “It’s too much, too fast,” said Sullivan, who has owned Hot Pots Studio on Main Street in Littleton since 2003. But Patty Kupfer, campaign manager at Colorado Families for a Fair Wage, said her group worked with small businesses before settling on the phased-in $12-per-hour goal, believing it will have minimal impact on employment levels and prices of goods and services. “There were tough conversations around that,” she said, acknowledging that many activ-
ists wanted to push for a $15 wage floor. Amendment 70, one of nine statewide ballot questions, would incrementally raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour by January 2020, with continuing increases to adjust for cost of living. It would initially raise it from the current $8.31 per hour to $9.30 on Jan. 1, with 90-cent increases on Jan. 1 of 2018, 2019 and 2020. The wage would continue to be adjusted annually based on the consumer price index for the state. The minimum wage for tipped workers is $3.02 below the minimum wage. That would stay the same, meaning the minimum wage for tipped workers would rise to $8.98 in 2020. The current minimum wage of $8.31 amounts to about $17,000 per year for full-time workers. It has risen from $6.85 since 2006 to account for increases in the Consumer Price Index. The wage hike has drawn opposition from chamber of commerce groups and restaurant Ballot continues on Page 22
METRO AREA TO VOTE ON RENEWING SCFD Voters in the seven-county Denver metro area are faced with the choice of whether to renew the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District, which levies a 0.1 percent sales tax across the area to support cultural facilities. Originally approved in 1988, the SCFD was renewed in 1994 and 2004. It is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2018. A renewal would extend it until June 30, 2030. The area includes Denver, Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson, Adams, Broomfield and Boulder counties. Government agencies and nonprofit organizations within
the district whose primary purpose is “to provide for the enlightenment and entertainment of the public through the production, presentation, exhibition, advancement or preservation of art, music, theatre, dance, zoology, botany, cultural history or natural history” can apply for funding from the district. More than 300 organizations throughout the area receive funding from the district. Recipients include:
Center • Englewood Cultural Arts Center Association • Heritage Fine Arts Guild of Arapahoe County • South Suburban Parks and Recreation Culture and Enrichment Division • Highlands Ranch Concert Band • Lone Tree Arts Center • Golden History Museums
• Arapahoe Philharmonic
• Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
• Littleton Symphony Orchestra
• Westminster Historical Society
• Hudson Gardens and Events
— Kyle Harding