Colorado voters may get to decide if minimum wage should be raised to $12 an hour

DENVER -- This November, Colorado voters may get to decide whether to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020.

Colorado Families for a Fair Wage have turned in petitions with 200,000 signatures in an attempt to get the measure on the ballot. The Secretary of State’s office says just 98,492 of those signatures need to be valid for ballot approval.

Lizeth Chacon chairs the organization behind the movement. On this week’s Politics Unplugged, she told hosts Anne Trujillo and Marshall Zelinger she believes paying workers a higher wage will create a ripple effect in the economy leading to job growth.

That’s something opponents of the plan disagree with.

"This measure will do more harm than good," said Keep Colorado Working campaign manager Tyler Sandberg in a written statement. "A recent independent study found that this 44% minimum wage increase will cost 90,000 Coloradans their jobs. Our minimum wage goes up every year in Colorado and it has increased 61% in the last 10 years, but another 44% increase simply goes too far and will do too much damage."

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Politics Unplugged airs Sundays at 4pm on Denver7.