Arkansans for a Fair Wage have made their first significant financial report on their campaign to put an initiated act on the ballot to raise the minimum wage.
The report filed by Little Rock lawyer David Couch said the group raised $155,300 and spent almost $101,000 paying canvassers to gather the 67,887 signatures needed to qualify for the November ballot. Signatures are under review by the secretary of state. The proposal would raise the current $8.50/hr. minimum to $11 by 2022.
Most of the money came from 501C4 organizations which aren’t immediable penetrable as to sources of funding — $100,000 from the Fairness Project and $50,000 from the National Employment Law Project. The Fairness Project has advocated higher wages and Medicaid expansion around the country. News articles say its main backer is the Service Employees International Union. The Law Project is 45 years old and has enjoyed support from a number of labor organizations.
More financial updates are expected today, including on a casino amendment and the battle over the tort reform amendment. The group pushing the new term limits measure filed a report last week.