United States Senator Mark Pryor has formally endorsed a proposal to raise the minimum wage in all of Arkansas.
Officials said the initiative will need 62,507 signatures of registered votes by July 7 for it to appear on the ballot in November.
Pryor spoke at a function in Little Rock on Saturday (Feb. 22) that the proposal is just the right thing to do.
The proposal would raise the state’s current $6.25 per hour minimum wage to $7.50 per hour on Jan. 1, 2015; to $8 per hour on Jan. 1, 2016, and to $8.50 per hour on Jan. 1, 2017.
Arkansas is one of only four states in the nation where the minimum wage is lower than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.
Pryor is a Democrat running for re-election.
Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton said he plans to challenge Pryor.
