AG reviews proposed minimum wage, medical pot initiatives

The Idaho attorney general’s office has completed reviews of proposed minimum wage and medical marijuana initiatives intended for the state ballot in the November 2020 general election.

The Idaho Press-Tribune reported Monday the minimum wage initiative would increase Idaho’s current $7.25 per hour minimum wage to $8.75 on June 1, 2021; to $9.75 a year later; to $10.75 a year after that; and to $12 an hour on June 1, 2024.

The office says because the proposed medical marijuana initiative seeks to both set up a system of legal medical marijuana in Idaho and to legalize industrial hemp, it likely would violate the Idaho Constitution’s existing single-subject rule for ballot initiatives.

Sponsors of both measures didn’t respond to requests for comment Monday from The Idaho Press-Tribune.