Minimum wage law consequences

I’m not sure if this was an unintended consequence or not. In any event, intensions don’t matter.

A voter-approved state minimum wage law contains no exemption for disabled workers who employers used to be able to pay less, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard concluded Wednesday.

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Wednesday’s new opinion ultimately could force the layoff of thousands of workers who until now have been paid less than the federal minimum wage under a provision of the Federal Labor Standards Act.

Apparently this wasn't unintended.

You thought it was an accident? An oversight? You thought the stories you read about centers that employ handicapped workers closing were about a big mistake by ballot-initiative writers who failed to dot all the i's? Well, you would be wrong. A coalition of six organizations, including the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities, proudly acknowledges that, hey, it was us! We did it!

1,500 to 3,000 people are heading out the door.