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Petitioners Can Now Gather Signatures For $13 Minimum Wage Ballot Issue
By: Andy Chow | Statehouse News Bureau
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A group trying to increase the minimum wage through a constitutional amendment can begin collecting signatures to put the issue on the November ballot.
The so-called “Raise The Wage” amendment would increase the minimum wage by annual increments to eventually reach $13 an hour by 2025.
The group trying to put the measure on the November ballot got the go-ahead from the Ohio Ballot Board to collect signatures.
Supporters of the plan would have to gather nearly 443,000 valid signatures by the beginning of July in order to qualify for the ballot.
The measure is similar to pieces of legislation that has passed in other states. Democrats have proposed bills to raise the minimum wage several times in the last few legislative sessions, including one that would hike it to $15 eventually. None have moved very far, though a law to stop local communities from increasing the required minimum wage passed in 2016.