Ohio "Fair Wage" Amendment (2016)

Ohio "Fair Wage" Amendment
Election date November 8, 2016
Topic Minimum wage
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin Citizens

Not on Ballot
This measure was not put on an election ballot

The Ohio "Fair Wage" Amendment did not make the November 8, 2016 ballot in Ohio as an initiated constitutional amendment.

The measure would have increased the state's minimum wage to $10 per hour effective January 1, 2017.

After the minimum wage was increased to $10 in 2017, the wage would have continued to rise by 50 cents each year until it reached $12 by 2021, then be adjusted for inflation annually. Tipped employees would have been paid at least $6 per hour including tips.

Text of measure

Ballot summary

The ballot summary was:

“

This proposed amendment will amend existing Article II, Section 34a of the Ohio Constitution, which establishes a state minimum wage rate. Specifically, this amendment will: Increase the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour on January 1, 2017. The minimum wage will increase by fifty cents per hour every following January 1st until it reaches $12.00 per hour in 2021. After that, it will be annually adjusted for inflation consistent with existing law. Change existing law, which allows employers to pay tipped employees half of the full minimum wage when employees earn the full minimum wage when tips are included, to require employers to pay tipped employees at least $6.00 per hour beginning January 1, 2017 when employees earn the full minimum wage when tips are included. The amount that employers must pay tipped employees will be increased by $1.00 per hour every following January 1st until the wage paid to tipped employees by their employer matches the full minimum wage. If the wage paid to tipped employees by an employer requires an annual increase of less than $1.00 per hour to match the full minimum wage, the annual increase will only be for the amount required to match the full minimum wage. Once the amount paid by the employer equals the full minimum wage, it will increase every January 1st based on the rate of inflation consistent with existing law.

”

Full text

The full text of the measure is available here.

Support

The initiative was filed by the Stand Up for Ohio Ballot Issue PAC.

Arguments in favor

Laurie Couch, a spokeswoman for the advocacy group behind the measure, Stand Up for Ohio, said,

“

The goal here is to address poverty in Ohio. It's not right that people have to work more than before and are making less in some of the lowest paying jobs.

”

Opposition

If you are aware of opposition, please email it to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Ohio

Petitioners needed to submit 1,000 signatures with the initial petition filing. The attorney general's office received the petition on October 13, 2015, and certified the measure on October 23, 2015. The Ohio Ballot Board approved the amendment on October 30, 2015.

Supporters needed to collect 305,591 signatures by July 6, 2016, to get the initiative placed on the November 2016 ballot. Stand Up for Ohio said, however, that the coalition necessary to complete signature collection did not form. Supporters said that they would continue to try to land the measure on a future ballot.

See also

Suggest a link

• 2016 ballot measures
• Ohio 2016 ballot measures
• Laws governing the initiative process in Ohio

Footnotes

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