Arkansas Issue 5, Minimum Wage Increase Initiative (2018)

Elections in Arkansas, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 9
• Early voting: Oct. 22 - Nov. 5
• Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 5

• Online registration: No
• Same-day registration: No
• Voter ID: Photo ID required (preliminary injunction issued on April 26, 2018)
• Poll times: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

---

On the ballot: U.S. House • Governor • Lt. Gov • Attorney General • Secretary of State • State executive offices • State Senate • State House • Special state legislative • Supreme court • Appellate courts • Local judges • State ballot measures • School boards • Democratic primaries • Republican primaries

Arkansas Issue 5
Election date November 6, 2018
Topic Minimum wage
Status a Approved
Type State statute	Origin Citizens
List of Arkansas measuresArkansas Issue 2Arkansas Issue 4Arkansas Issue 5Submit

Arkansas Issue 5, the Minimum Wage Increase Initiative, was on the ballot in Arkansas as an initiated state statute on November 6, 2018. It was approved.

A yes vote supported the ballot initiative to incrementally raise the minimum wage in Arkansas to $11 an hour by 2021.

A no vote opposed the ballot initiative to incrementally raise the minimum wage in Arkansas to $11 an hour by 2021.

Aftermath

See also: Legislative alteration

Three bills were introduced to amend Issue 5 in the 2019 legislation session:

• Sen. Bob Ballinger (R) introduced a bill—Senate Bill 115—on January 16, 2019, to provide exceptions to the minimum wage established by Issue 5. The latest version of the bill as amended on March 6, 2019, was designed to prevent the minimum wage requirements from applying to any employee under the age of 18, convicted of a felony, or with a developmental disability. It would have also exempted employers with fewer than 25 employees (up from four) from the minimum wage requirements. The original version of the bill was designed to exempt employees under the age of 18, employees of schools, and employees of nonprofits. SB 115 was not approved before the 2019 legislative adjourned.

• House Bill 1752 was designed to exempt employers with fewer than 25 employees (up from four), nonprofits with operating budgets of less than $1 million, and nonprofits that provide developmental disabilities services and "are primarily funded by state or federal reimbursement, or both, on a fee-for-service schedule." This bill was introduced by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R).

• House Bill 1753 was designed to exempt employees that are younger than 21 and enrolled as full-time students. Going into 2019, state law allowed the wage of students to be 80 percent of the state's standard minimum wage. This bill was introduced by Rep. Robin Lundstrum (R).

Rep. Robin Lundstrum's House Bills 1752 and 1753 were rejected by the House. According to the Arkansas Times, Lundstrum did not plan to pursue the issue further during the 2019 session.

In Arkansas, a two-thirds (66.67%) vote is required in each chamber of the state legislature to amend or repeal a voter-approved initiative. Arkansas has a Republican state government trifecta. Republicans control 26 (74 percent) of 35 Senate seats and 76 (76 percent) of 100 House seats.

Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) opposed the legislative efforts to alter Issue 5. Hutchinson said, "This is an act of the will of the people of Arkansas and I do not believe it should be changed by legislative enactment ... I think the public has spoken on it and I think we need to abide by that."

Election results

Arkansas Issue 5
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		605,784	68.46%
No		279,046	31.54%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

Measure design

The measure was designed to raise the minimum wage in Arkansas from $8.50 (as of 2018) to $11.00 per hour by 2021. The wages were designed to be raised as follows:

• January 1, 2019: $9.25 per hour
• January 1, 2020: $10.00 per hour
• January 1, 2021: $11.00 per hour

Campaigns surrounding the measure

One committee was registered in support of Issue 5: Arkansans for a Fair Wage. The committee had raised $1.5 million and had spent $1.49 million. The top three donors to the committee provided 99.65 percent of all contributions to the committee: The Sixteen Thirty Fund ($1.35 million), The Fairness Project ($100,000), and the National Employment Law Project ($50,200).

One committee was registered in opposition to Issue 5: Arkansans for a Strong Economy. The committee raised $151,000 and spent $137,817. The largest donors were the Arkansas Oil Marketers ($41,000); National Restaurant Association ($40,000); and the McDonalds Local Owner Operators PAC ($25,000).

Minimum wage in Arkansas

Going into the election, the minimum wage in Arkansas was $8.50 per hour. Arkansas voted for a wage increase through a 2014 ballot initiative: Issue 5. The measure was approved by a vote of 65.94 percent to 34.06 percent. The measure increased the state’s minimum wage from $6.25 to $7.50 per hour on January 1, 2015; to $8 on January 1, 2016; and to $8.50 per hour on January 1, 2017.

As of 2018, Arkansas' minimum wage of $8.50 per hour was higher than surrounding states— Kansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky— which all had a minimum wage of $7.25. Arkansas' minimum wage is ranked #22 nationally. At the top, Washington, D.C. is ranked #1 with a minimum wage of $13.25. Georgia and Wyoming rank #50 and #51 with a minimum wage of $5.15, though the federal minimum wage of $7.25 would apply for employees covered under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Those not covered under the FLSA may be paid the state minimum wage of $5.15.

Minimum wage measures on the ballot in 2018

Missouri Proposition B, the $12 Minimum Wage Initiative, was on the ballot in Missouri as an initiated state statute on November 6, 2018. The measure would increase the minimum wage from $7.85 (2018) to $8.60 in 2019; $9.45 in 2020; $10.30 in 2021; $11.15 in 2022; and $12.00 in 2023. Missouri Proposition B was also approved.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for this initiative is below:

“

An act to amend the Arkansas code concerning the state minimum wage; the act would raise the current state minimum wage from eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50) per hour to nine dollars and twenty-five cents ($9.25) per hour on January 1, 2019, to ten dollars ($10.00) per hour on January 1, 2020, and to eleven dollars ($11.00) per hour on January 1, 2021.

”

Full text

The full text of the measure is as follows. The following underlined text was added:

“

SECTION 1. Arkansas Code§ 11-4-210(a), concerning the state minimum wage, is amended to read as follows: (a)(l) Beginning October 1, 2006, every employer shall pay each of his or her employees wages at the rate of not less than six dollars and twenty-five cents ($6.25) per hour except as otherwise provided in this subchapter. (2)(A) Beginning January 1, 2015, every employer shall pay each of his or her employees wages at the rate of not less than seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50) per hour, beginning January 1, 2016 the rate of not less than eight dollars ($8.00) per hour and beginning January 1, 2017 the rate of not less than eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50) per hour except as otherwise provided in this subchapter. (3){A) Beginning January 1, 2019, every employer shall pay each of his or her employees wages at the rate of not less than nine dollars and twenty-five cents ($9.25) per hour, beginning January 1, 2020 the rate of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) per hour and beginning January 1, 2021 the rate of not less than eleven dollars ($11.00) per hour except as otherwise provided in this subchapter.

”

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2018

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The initiative proponents wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 25, and the FRE is 24. The word count for the ballot title is 59, and the estimated reading time is 15 seconds. In 2018, for the 167 statewide measures on the ballot, the average ballot title or question was written at a level appropriate for those with between 19 and 20 years of U.S. formal education (graduate school-level of education), according to the FKGL formula. Read Ballotpedia's entire 2018 ballot language readability report here.

Support

Arkansans for a Fair Wage led the campaign in support of the measure.

Supporters

• Sixteen Thirty Fund
• The Fairness Project
• National Employment Law Project

Arguments

Arkansans for a Fair Wage argued, "The cost of groceries, housing and other basics have gone up for years. But wages haven’t come close to keeping up. By gradually raising Arkansas’ minimum wage to $11 an hour, we can help hard-working people meet their basic needs. At the same time, we’ll help small businesses by putting more money into people’s pockets that they can spend on goods and services in our state."

Opposition

Arkansans for a Strong Economy led the campaign in opposition to the measure.

Opponents

Officials

• Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (R)
• Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin (R)
• U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-2)
• U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-4)
• U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford (R-1)

Organizations

• Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce
• Arkansas Hospitality Association
• Arkansas Oil Marketers Association

Arugments

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson (R) said, "I will not vote for the ballot initiative that would raise the minimum wage over 3 years to $11.00 per hour. This would be a job killer for our youth particularly. It is playing with fire to set a wage rate 3 years from now when we do not know the economic conditions that far down the road. I support raising the minimum wage, but it should be done through legislative action at such time when the economic outlook supports the action."

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for Arkansas ballot measures

Total campaign contributions:
Support:	$1,501,310.80
Opposition:	$151,100.00

One committee was registered in support of Issue 5: Arkansans for a Fair Wage. The committee had raised $1.5 million and had spent $1.49 million. The top three donors to the committee provided 99.65 percent of all contributions to the committee: The Sixteen Thirty Fund ($1.35 million), The Fairness Project ($100,000), and the National Employment Law Project ($50,200).

One committee was registered in opposition to Issue 5: Arkansans for a Strong Economy. The committee raised $151,000 and spent $137,817. The largest donors were the Arkansas Oil Marketers ($41,000); National Restaurant Association ($40,000); and the McDonalds Local Owner Operators PAC ($25,000).

Support

Committees in support of Arkansas Issue 5 Supporting committees Cash contributions In-kind services Cash expenditures Arkansans for a fair Wage $1,501,310.80 $0.00 $1,493,890.27 Total $1,501,310.80 $0.00 $1,493,890.27

Totals in support Total raised: $1,501,310.80 Total spent: $1,493,890.27

Donors

According to the most current reports available, the top donors to the support campaign were as follows:

Donor	Cash	In-kind	Total
Sixteen Thirty Fund	$1,346,000.00	$0.00	$1,346,000.00
The Fairness Project	$100,000.00	$0.00	$100,000.00
National Employment Law Project	$50,200.00	$0.00	$50,200.00

Opposition

Committees in opposition to Arkansas Issue 5 Opposing committees Cash contributions In-kind services Cash expenditures Arkansans for a Strong Economy $151,100.00 $0.00 $137,817.12 Total $151,100.00 $0.00 $137,817.12

Totals in opposition Total raised: $151,100.00 Total spent: $137,817.12

Donors

According to the most current reports available, the top five donors to the support campaign were as follows:

Donor	Cash	In-kind	Total
Arkansas Oil Marketers	$41,000.00	$0.00	$41,000.00
National Restaurant Association	$40,000.00	$0.00	$40,000.00
McDonalds Local Owner Operators PAC	$25,000.00	$0.00	$25,000.00
AJ RE, LLC	$9,500.00	$0.00	$9,500.00
Tobacco Superstore, Inc	$9,200.00	$0.00	$9,200.00
McKee Food Corporation	$5,000.00	$0.00	$5,000.00

Methodology

To read Ballotpedia's methodology for covering ballot measure campaign finance information, click here.

Polls

See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls and 2018 ballot measure polls

A September 2018 poll conducted by Talk Business & Politics and Hendrix College asked 1,701 likely Arkansas voters the following question:

“

A measure may be on the ballot in November to increase the state minimum wage in Arkansas for most workers in the state from $8.50 per hour to $11 per hour over a 3-year period. If the election were today, would you vote for or against this proposal?

”

The results were as follows:

Arkansas Issue 5
Poll	Support	Oppose	Don't know	Margin of error	Sample size
Talk Business & Politics- Hendrix College Poll 9/5/18 - 9/7/18	60.0%	30.0%	10.0%	+/-2.4	1,701
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Background

2018 state minimum wages

Below is a map with higher minimum wages in a darker shade of blue. States that are shaded white either have a minimum wage equal to the federal minimum wage—$7.25 an hour—or have a lower state-set minimum wage over which the federal minimum wage takes precedence.

Minimum wage in Arkansas

Going into the election, the minimum wage in Arkansas was $8.50 per hour. Arkansas voted for a wage increase through a 2014 ballot initiative: Issue 5. The measure was approved by a vote of 65.94 percent to 34.06 percent. The measure increased the state’s minimum wage from $6.25 to $7.50 per hour on January 1, 2015; to $8 on January 1, 2016; and to $8.50 per hour on January 1, 2017.

The Arkansas Minimum Wage and Overtime Initiated Act, also known as Initiated Act 1, was on the ballot in Arkansas on November 8, 1960, as an initiated state statute. It was defeated. The measure would have established a minimum wage and overtime.

Minimum wage measures on the 2018 ballot

See also: Minimum wage on the ballot

Missouri

Missouri Proposition B, the $12 Minimum Wage Initiative, was on the ballot in Missouri as an initiated state statute on November 6, 2018. The measure would increase the minimum wage from $7.85 (2018) to $8.60 in 2019; $9.45 in 2020; $10.30 in 2021; $11.15 in 2022; and $12.00 in 2023. Thereafter, the minimum wage would increase or decrease each year based on changes in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Raise Up Missouri led the campaign in support of the initiative and, similarly to the Arkansas measure, received funds from The Fairness Project and the Sixteen Thirty Fund.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Arkansas

The state process

In Arkansas, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Proponents must collect signatures equaling at least half of the designated percentage of gubernatorial votes in at least 50 of the state's 75 counties. Signature petitions must be submitted four months prior to the election at which the measure is to appear. According to a law approved by the state legislature in 2019 as an emergency taking immediate effect, initiative ballot titles and popular names are certified by the board of election commissioners (rather than the attorney general) after signatures are submitted (rather than before).

The requirements to get initiated state statutes certified for the 2018 ballot:

• Signatures: 67,887 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 6, 2018.

If the secretary of state certifies that enough signatures were submitted in a petition, the initiative is put on the ballot. If a petition fails to meet the signature requirement, but the petition has at least 75 percent of the valid signatures needed, petitioners have 30 days to collect additional signatures or demonstrate that rejected signatures are valid.

The signature deadline was extended, and proponents were given until August 29, 2018, to collect the required number of signatures.

Cost of signature collection:
Sponsors of the measure hired National Ballot Access to collect signatures for the petition to qualify this measure for the ballot. A total of $510,946.70 was spent to collect the 67,887 valid signatures required to put this measure before voters, resulting in a total cost per required signature (CPRS) of $7.53.

Details about this initiative

• David Couch filed this initiative. The popular name and ballot title were certified by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge on May 23, 2018. On May 14, 2018, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge rejected the proposed popular name and ballot title in opinion 2018-053. Couch filed two similar initiatives, which Rutledge rejected in opinions 2018-48 and 2018-50 on May 4 and May 7, 2018, respectively.

• David Couch filed litigation against Attorney General Rutledge after she refused to certify the popular name and ballot title three times in the month of May. On May 23, 2018, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Rutledge must accept and certify the proposed popular name and ballot title or submit another version within three days. Couch said, "It is clear that General Rutledge does not want the citizens of Arkansas to be able to vote on whether or not the minimum wage should be raised." Rutledge cleared the initiative for signature gathering the same day.

• The signature deadline was extended, and proponents were given until August 29, 2018, to collect the required number of signatures.

• On August 16, 2018, the Arkansas Secretary of State announced that the measure had qualified for the ballot. The group submitted over 84,000 valid signatures. A total of 67,887 signatures were needed to qualify.

Lawsuit

Arkansans for a Strong Economy v. Arkansans for a Fair Wage

  

Lawsuit overview
Issue: Whether the signatures are valid, whether signature gatherers for the initiative were properly registered as paid canvassers
Court: Filed in Arkansas Supreme Court
Ruling: Lawsuit rejected, measure to remain on the ballot
Plaintiff(s): Arkansans for a Strong Economy	Defendant(s): Initiative proponents, state officials
Plaintiff argument: Signature gatherers were not properly registered as paid canvassers with the Arkansas Secretary of State's office, signatures are invalid, and the measure should be removed from the ballot	Defendant argument: The signatures are valid and the measure should remain on the ballot

  Source: Associated Press

On September 24, 2018, Special Master Sam Bird said the proposal did, in fact, collect enough valid signatures to appear on the November ballot. Bird found that Secretary of State Mark Martin's office had improperly invalidated 19,335 signatures collected by proponents. He wrote, "It is clear that the sponsor's petition exceeded the minimum number of signatures ... required to qualify it for placement on the November 6, 2018, ballot." On October 18, 2018, the Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit, ordering the measure to remain on the ballot.

Opposing committee Arkansas for a Strong Economy filed the lawsuit in the state Supreme Court challenging the validity of signatures gathered to qualify the measure for the ballot.

Randy Zook, chairman of Arkansans for a Strong Economy and head of Arkansas Chamber of Commerce, said, "Simply put, the committee pushing for a minimum wage increase did not follow the law in registering all of its paid canvassers with the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office. We also found that many of the petitions and signatures counted as valid were incomplete or contained errors, and should not have been validated."

David Couch, initiative proponent and legal counsel for Arkansans for a Fair Wage, said, "The Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce speaks for big business and corporate special interests, not the healthcare workers, classroom aides, and waitresses who Initiative 5 will help. Arkansas voters deserve the chance to vote up or down on a wage increase this November. Arkansans for a Fair Wage will defend our petitions and the voters who signed them."

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in Arkansas

Poll times

In Arkansas, all polls are open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Election Day. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.

Registration requirements

Check your voter registration status here.

To vote in Arkansas, one must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of Arkansas. A voter must be 18 years of age or older on or before Election Day.

Registration must be completed no later than 30 days before the election in which a voter wishes to participate. Citizens must complete and submit a voter registration application to their county clerk or other authorized voter registration agency. Applications may be obtained at the following locations:

• County clerk's office
• The Arkansas Secretary of State Elections Division:
• Local revenue or DMV office
• Public library
• Public assistance agency
• Disability agency
• Military recruitment office
• Voter registration drive
• Online

Automatic registration

Arkansas does not practice automatic voter registration.

Online registration

See also: Online voter registration

Arkansas does not permit online voter registration.

Same-day registration

Arkansas does not allow same-day voter registration.

Residency requirements

Arkansas law requires 30 days of residency in the state before a person may vote.

Verification of citizenship

See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States

Arkansas does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration.

Verifying your registration

The site Voter View, run by the Arkansas Secretary of State's office, allows residents to check their voter registration status online.

Voter ID requirements

Arkansas requires voters to present photo identification while voting. The identification must include the voter’s name and photograph. It must be issued by "the United States, the State of Arkansas, or an accredited postsecondary educational institution in the State of Arkansas." If the identification has an expiration date on it, it cannot be expired for "more than four (4) years before the date of the election in which the voter seeks to vote."

The following list of accepted ID was current as of April 2023. Click here for the Arkansas Secretary of State's page on accepted ID to ensure you have the most current information.

• Driver’s license
• Photo identification card
• Concealed handgun carry license
• United States passport
• Employee badge or identification document issued by an accredited postsecondary education institution in the State of Arkansas
• United States military identification document
• Public assistance identification card if it has a photograph
• Voter verification card as provided under Ark. Code § 7-5-324

"A person who is a resident of a long-term care or residential care facility licensed by the state of Arkansas is not required to verify his or her registration by presenting a document or identification card as described above when voting in person, but must provide documentation from the administrator of the facility attesting that the person is a resident of the facility," according to the Arkansas Secretary of State’s office.

Voters can obtain a free voter verification card at their county clerk’s office. "[V]oters will be required to complete an affidavit stating they do not possess such identification, and must provide documentation containing their full legal name and date of birth, as well as documentation containing their name and residential address."

State profile

Demographic data for Arkansas
	Arkansas	U.S.
Total population:	2,977,853	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	52,035	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	78%	73.6%
Black/African American:	15.5%	12.6%
Asian:	1.4%	5.1%
Native American:	0.6%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.2%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.1%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	6.9%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	84.8%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	21.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$41,371	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	22.9%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Arkansas. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Arkansas

Arkansas voted Republican in all six presidential elections between 2000 and 2020.

Pivot Counties (2016)

Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Arkansas, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.

Pivot Counties (2020)

In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Arkansas had one Retained Pivot County, 0.55 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.

More Arkansas coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Arkansas
• United States congressional delegations from Arkansas
• Public policy in Arkansas
• Influencers in Arkansas
• Arkansas fact checks
• More...

See also

2018 measures

• 2018 ballot measures
• Wages and pay on the ballot
• 2018 legislative sessions

Arkansas

• Arkansas ballot measures
• Arkansas ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Arkansas Secretary of State

• Arkansans for a Fair Wage website
• Arkansans for a Fair Wage Facebook
• Arkansans For a Fair Wage Twitter

• Arkansas for a Strong Economy Against Issue 5 Facebook
• Arkansas for a Strong Economy Against Issue 5 Twitter

Additional reading

• ProCon.org, "State-by-State Minimum Wage Levels"
• ProCon.org, "Should the Federal Minimum Wage Be Increased?"
• ProCon.org, "Should the federal minimum wage be increased: Pro and Con quotes"
• ProCon.org, "Should the federal minimum wage be increased: Background of the Issue"