'Save Our Tips' Lobby Is Actually Arizona Restaurant Owners
by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, Arizona Mirror
April 2, 2024
The Arizona Restaurant Association appears to be behind an organization that is advocating against raising the minimum wage, as well as promoting a Republican measure that would ask voters to let businesses pay employees who work for tips 25% less than minimum wage.
The legislation would amend the Arizona Constitution to include language that would allow business owners to cut the pay of their tipped employees.
The strike-everything amendment to Senate Concurrent Resolution 1040 passed out of the House Commerce Committee along party lines last month. Those who spoke in favor of the measure said it is in direct response to a ballot initiative currently gathering signatures that would increase the minimum wage for all workers to $18 an hour.
Under current Arizona law, businesses can pay tipped workers $3 less than minimum wage. If the proposed constitutional amendment were in place today, businesses could pay workers $3.58 less than the current minimum wage of $14.35.
The legislation, known as the “Tipped Workers Protection Act,” is backed by restaurant owners and other business groups.