LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas voters have approved a plan to gradually raise the state’s minimum wage from $8.50 an hour to $11.
Voters on Tuesday approved the proposed initiated act, which raises the state’s minimum wage to $9.25 an hour on Jan. 1. The law then raises the wage to $10 an hour on Jan. 1, 2020, and $11 an hour on Jan. 1, 2021.
With 96 percent of the precincts reporting, the unofficial results were:
- For 590,285 68%
- Against 272,730 32%
The state Supreme Court last month rejected a lawsuit from business groups who had challenged the signatures submitted in favor of the wage hike measure. The proposal is the second minimum wage hike increase Arkansas voters have approved over the past four years. Voters in 2014 approved a plan to gradually raise the state’s previous minimum wage from $6.25 an hour.
