Sky Schaudt/KJZZ

Arizona minimum wage is $12, as of Jan. 1, 2020.

Come Jan. 1, Arizona’s minimum wage will increase to $12.15.

Since 2006, the state has set its own minimum wage. In 2016, voters approved a boost to $12 an hour by 2020. With the exception of pre-approved boosts, Arizona now continues with an annual inflation-adjusted increase to the minimum wage.

However, the state-set minimum wage bothers the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, which tried to kill the 2006 and 2016 laws that include the requirement that employers provide paid sick leave. 

Chamber spokesman Garrick Taylor says that while this year’s increase is only 15 cents an hour, he’s worried about these automatic adjustments.

“What concerns us going forward, though, is we are now putting these automatic escalators to the test amid a wobbly economy due to an economic downturn brought on by the pandemic," Taylor said. 

Taylor also is concerned about the downward pressure this puts on hiring, since every year it becomes more expensive.

Unlike Arizona, the federal minimum wage still sits at $7.25 an hour and has remained unchanged since 2009.