By Megan Schrader
Colorado Springs Gazette, August 11, 2016
DENVER - Colorado voters will decide in November whether to bump the minimum wage from $8.31 to $9.30 an hour in 2017 and to $12 an hour by 2020.
A coalition of groups have poured $1 million into putting the proposed change to the Colorado Constitution on the ballot and Colorado Families for a Fair Wage learned Thursday that it had turned in enough valid signatures to put the question to voters. On the ballot it's likely to be Amendment 70.
"All the studies show that when working people have more money in their pockets they spend it," said Patty Kupfer, with the Fair Wage campaign. "They spend it here in Colorado. That creates jobs and helps our communities thrive. ...
Jeff Rogoff, co-owner of Sazza, a restaurant in Greenwood Village, supports the proposed amendment.
"In our ten years of operation, we have seen results that show if we pay our staff higher wages, we have a better retention rate and we spend less money on hiring and training so we are able to keep our best employees and keep our high standards of service at the levels our customers expect," he said in a statement included with an announcement about making the ballot. ...