Why did the Arkansas AG reject David Couch’s May 2018 minimum-wage ballot title?

Plain-English summary

David Couch submitted a proposed initiated act that would raise Arkansas's stated minimum wage in stages from $8.50 to $12 an hour by 2022. The proposed ballot title copied the existing statutory definitions of “employer” and “employee” instead of explaining the effect of the measure on current law. The Attorney General rejected the popular name and ballot title and told the sponsor to redesign the proposal and title.

The Attorney General said reciting the definitions did not adequately summarize the law voters were being asked to change. It also introduced other technical terms, including “gratuities,” “independent contractor,” and “man-day,” whose meanings voters should not have to guess. Her response identified “central, fundamental ambiguities” in the measure's text that prevented her from writing a fair substitute title. She did not conduct a complete point-by-point review.

At 967 words, the title was long enough to raise a separate concern about what voters could read and consider during their limited time in the voting booth. The Attorney General expressly said its length was “not reason alone” for rejection. She urged the sponsor to consider whether a title of that length would meet the Arkansas Supreme Court's standards, while emphasizing the need to summarize the proposal's important features and its effects on existing law.

Currency note

This opinion addresses a rejected 2018 proposal. The wage rates and dates it describes were proposed text, not a statement of current Arkansas law. Check current law and later ballot measures before relying on them.

Common questions

Did the Attorney General reject the title solely because it had 967 words? No. She expressly said the length was not reason alone to reject it. Her central objection was that copying statutory definitions did not succinctly explain the proposed changes to existing law, and ambiguities in the measure prevented a suitable substitute title.

Why were the copied definitions a problem?
They added technical terms such as “gratuities,” “independent contractor,” and “man-day.” The Attorney General said that simply putting those definitions into sentences did not explain what the proposal would change or give voters an understandable summary.

What did the Attorney General say about the voting-booth time limit? She treated the time limit as a reason to consider whether a 967-word title could be intelligently considered. She quoted Arkansas Supreme Court guidance that length and complexity matter, though neither is controlling by itself.

Could the Attorney General write a shorter title? She said the deficiencies in the proposal and title prevented her from fairly summarizing the measure. She declined to prepare a substitute and instructed Couch to redesign the proposal and title.

Was this a decision against raising the minimum wage? No. The opinion says the Attorney General's ballot-title review does not address the merits, philosophy, or ideology of a proposed measure.

Background and statutory framework

Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107 authorized the Attorney General to certify, substitute and certify where practicable, or reject a misleading popular name and ballot title. The proposed act would amend § 11-4-210(a). The title reproduced definitions from § 11-4-203(3) and (4). The opinion cited Arkansas Supreme Court cases on technical terms, adequate summaries, and the time voters have to read a title.

Citations

• Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107 (Supp. 2017)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-203(3) and (4)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 11-4-210(a)
• Ark. Code Ann. § 7-5-309
• Dust v. Riviere, 277 Ark. 1, 638 S.W.2d 663 (1982)
• Newton v. Hall, 196 Ark. 929, 120 S.W.2d 364 (1938)
• Wilson v. Martin, 2016 Ark. 334

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

STAT E O F ARKAN SAS
ATTORNEY G EN ERAL
LES LI E RUTL EDG E

Opinion No. 2018-053

May 14, 2018

David A. Couch, Esq.
1501 North University, Suite 228
Little Rock, AR 72207

Dear Mr. Couch:

I am writing in response to your request for certification, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107, of the popular name and ballot title for a proposed initiated measure.

At the outset, I wish to make clear to you that the decision to certify or reject a popular name and ballot title is in no way a reflection of my view of the merits of a particular proposal. I am not authorized to, and I do not, consider the merits of the measure when making a decision to certify or reject.

Arkansas Code Annotated § 7-9-107 authorizes my office to 1) certify the popular name and ballot title of a proposed measure, 2) substitute and certify the popular name and ballot title, if practicable, or 3) reject the entire submission if "the ballot title, or the nature of the issue, is presented in such manner that the ballot title would be misleading" to voters. 1 The purpose of my review under section 7-9-107 is to ensure that the popular name and ballot title honestly, intelligibly, and fairly set forth the purpose of the proposed amendment or act. 2 In this way, voters will have a fair understanding of the issues presented by reference to the ballot title alone. 3

1
Ark. Code Ann.§ 7-9-107(c) (Supp. 2017).
2
See Arkansas Women's Political Caucus v. Riviere, 283 Ark. 463, 466, 677 S.W.2d 846, 848 ( 1948). 3 Becker v. Riviere, 270 Ark. 219, 226, 604 S.W.2d 555 , 558 (1980) (internal citations omitted).

323 CENTER STREET. SU ITE 200 · LI TTLE RO C K. ARKANSAS 7220 1 TELEP HONE (50 1) 682-2007 · FAX (501) 682-8084 ARKA NSASAG.GOV

David A. Couch, Esq.
Opinion No. 2018-053
Page 2

Section 7-9-107 neither requires nor authorizes this office to make legal determinations concerning the merits of the proposed act or amendment, or concerning the likelihood that it will accomplish its stated objective. In addition, consistent with Arkansas Supreme Court precedent, unless the measure is "clearly contrary to law," 4 this office will not require that a measure's proponents acknowledge in the ballot title any possible constitutional infirmities. 5 Consequently, this review has been limited primarily to a determination, pursuant to the guidelines that have been set forth by the Arkansas Supreme Court, discussed below, of whether the popular name and ballot title you have submitted accurately and impartially summarize the provisions of your proposal.

REQUEST

You have requested certification, pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107, of the following popular name and ballot title for a proposed initiated act:

Popular Name

An Act to Increase the Arkansas Minimum Wage

Ballot Title

An act to amend the Arkansas Code concerning the state minimum wage; the act would raise the current state minimum wage from eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50) per hour to nine dollars and twenty-five cents ($9.25) per hour on January 1, 2019, to ten dollars ($10.00) per hour on January 1, 20202 [sic], to eleven dollars ($11.00) per hour and [sic] January 1, 2021 [sic] and to twelve dollars ($12.00) per hour on January 1, 2022. The act makes no other changes to the existing law regarding the state minimum wage other than to increase the minimum wage. Existing Arkansas Law defines employer as any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, the State of Arkansas, any political subdivision of the state, or any person or group of persons acting

4
See Kurrus v. Priest, 342 Ark. 434, 445, 29 S.W.3d 669, 675 (2000); Donovan v. Priest, 326 Ark. 353, 359, 931S.W.2d119, 121 (1996); Plugge v. McCuen, 310 Ark. 654, 841S.W.2d139 (1992). 5 As part of my review, however, I may address constitutional concerns for consideration by the measure's proponents.

David A. Couch, Esq.
Opinion No. 2018-053
Page 3

directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee. Employer does not include any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee for any work week in which fewer than four (4) employees are employed. Existing Arkansas Law defines employee as any individual employed by an employer but shall not include: (A) Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity or as an outside commission- paid salesperson who customarily performs his or her services away from his or her employer's premises taking orders for goods or services; (B) Any student performing services for any school, college, or university in which he or she is enrolled and is regularly attending classes; (C) Any individual employed by the United States;
(D) Any individual engaged in the activities of any educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization in which the employer-employee relationship does not in fact exist or in which the services are rendered to the organizations gratuitously; (E) Any bona fide independent contractor; (F) Any individual employed by an agricultural employer who did not use more than five hundred (500) man-days of agricultural labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year; (G) The parent, spouse, child, or other member of an agricultural employer's immediate family; (H) An individual who: (i) Is employed as a hand-harvest laborer and is paid on a piece-rate basis in an operation that has been, and is customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece-rate basis in the region of employment; (ii) Commutes daily from his or her permanent residence to the farm on which he or she is so employed; and (iii) Has been employed in agriculture less than thirteen ( 13) weeks during the preceding calendar year; (I) A migrant who: (i) Is sixteen (16) years of age or under and is employed as a hand-harvest laborer; (ii) Is paid on a piece-rate basis in an operation that has been, and is customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece-rate basis in the region of employment; (iii) Is employed on the same farm as his or her parents; and(iv) [sic] Is paid the same piece-rate as employees over sixteen (16) years of age are paid on the same farm; (J) Any employee principally engaged in the range production of livestock;
(K) Any employee employed in planting or tending trees, cruising, surveying, or felling timber or in preparing or transporting logs or

David A. Couch, Esq.
Opinion No. 2018-053
Page 4

other forestry products to the mill, processing plants, or railroad or other transportation terminal if the number of employees employed by his or her employer in the forestry or lumbering operations does not exceed eight (8); (L) An employee employed by a nonprofit recreational or educational camp that does not operate for more than seven (7) months in any calendar year; (M) A nonprofit child welfare agency employee who serves as a houseparent who is:(i) [sic] Directly involved in caring for children who reside in residential facilities of the nonprofit child welfare agency and who are orphans, in foster care, abused, neglected, abandoned, homeless, in need of supervision, or otherwise in crisis situations that lead to out-of-home placements; and (ii) Compensated at an annual rate of not less than thirteen thousand dollars ($13,000) or compensated at an annual rate of not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) if the employee resides in the residential facility and receives board and lodging at no cost; (N) An employee employed in connection with the publication of a weekly, semiweekly, or daily newspaper with a circulation:(i) [sic] Of less than four thousand (4,000); and (ii) The major part of which is within the county in which the newspaper is published or counties contiguous to the county in which the newspaper is published; (0) An employee employed on a casual basis in domestic service employment to provide:(i) [sic] Babysitting services; or (ii) Companionship services for individuals who are unable to care for themselves because of age or infirmity; (P) An employee engaged in the delivery of newspapers to retail subscribers; (Q) A home worker engaged in:(i) [sic] Making wreaths composed principally of natural holly, pine, cedar, or other evergreens; and (ii) Harvesting natural holly, pine, cedar, and other evergreens used in making such wreaths; or (R) (i) An individual employed by an establishment that is an organized camp or a religious or nonprofit educational conference center if: (a) The organized camp or a religious or nonprofit educational conference center does not operate for more than seven (7) months in a calendar year; or (b) During the preceding calendar year, the average receipts of the organized camp or a religious or nonprofit educational conference center for any six (6) months of the preceding calendar year were not more than thirty-three and one-third percent (33 1/3%) of the average receipts of the organized camp or a religious or nonprofit educational conference center for the other six (6) months of the preceding calendar year.

David A. Couch, Esq.
Opinion No. 2018-053
Page 5

GUIDELINES

The popular name is primarily a useful legislative device. 6 It need not contain detailed information or include exceptions that might be required of a ballot title, but it must not be misleading or give partisan coloring to the merit of the proposal. 7 The popular name is to be considered together with the ballot title in determining the ballot title's sufficiency. 8

"It has long been regarded as axiomatic that the majority of voters, when called upon to vote for or against a proposed measure, will derive their information about its contents from an inspection of the ballot title immediately before exercising the right of suffrage."9 Accordingly, the ballot title must include an impartial summary of the proposed amendment or act that will give the voter a fair understanding of the issues presented. 10 According to the Court, a ballot title will not be legally sufficient unless it "adequately inform[ s]" the voters of the contents of a proposed amendment or act so that they can make a "reasoned decision in the voting booth." 11 A ballot title's failure to "honestly and accurately reflect what is contained in the proposed [act or] Amendment" may lead the Court to conclude that the "omission is significant." 12 The Court has also disapproved the use of terms that are "technical and not readily understood by voters." 13 Without a definition of such terms in the ballot title, the title may be deemed insufficient. 14

6
Pafford v. Hall, 217 Ark. 734, 739, 233 S.W.2d 72, 75 (1950).
7
See, e.g., Chaney v. Bryant, 259 Ark. 294, 297, 532 S.W.2d 741, 743 (1976); Moore v. Hall, 229 Ark. 411, 316 S.W .2d 207 ( 195 8). For a better understanding of the term "partisan coloring,'' see infra note 20. 8 May v. Daniels, 359 Ark. 100, 105, 194 S.WJd 771, 776 (2004).
9
Wilson v. Martin, 2016 Ark. 334, 7, 500 S.WJd 160, 166 (citing Christian Civic Action Committee v. McCuen, 318 Ark. 241, 884 S.W.2d 605 (1994)). 10 Becker, 270 Ark. at 226, 604 S.W.2d at 558 (internal citations omitted).
11
Lange v. Martin, 2016 Ark. 337, 500 S.WJd 154, at n. 2.
12
Id. at 9, 500 S.W.3d at 159.
13
Wilson, 2016 Ark. 334 at *9, 500 S.W.3d at 167.

14 Id.

David A. Couch, Esq.
Opinion No. 2018-053
Page 6

Additionally, if information omitted from the ballot title is an "essential fact which would give the voter serious ground for reflection, it must be disclosed." 15 At the same time, however, a ballot title must be brief and concise; 16 otherwise voters could run afoul of the statutory five-minute limit in voting booths 17 when other voters are waiting in line. 18 The ballot title is not required to be perfect, nor is it reasonable to expect the title to cover or anticipate every possible legal argument the proposed measure might evoke. 19 The title, however, must be "free of any misleading tendency whether by amplification, omission, or fallacy, and it must not be tinged with partisan coloring." 20 The ballot title must be honest and impartial, 21 and it must conve~ an intelligible idea of the scope and significance of a proposed change in the law. 2

Furthermore, the Court has confirmed that a ballot title cannot be approved if the text of the proposed measure itself contributes to confusion and disconnect between the language in the popular name and the ballot title and the language in the measure. 23 The Court concluded that "internal inconsistencies would inevitably lead to confusion in drafting a popular name and ballot title and to confusion in the ballot title itself. " 24 Where the effects of a proposed measure on

15
Bailey v. McCuen, 318 Ark. 277, 285, 884 S.W.2d 938, 942 (1994).
16
See Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107(b).
17
Ark. Code Ann. § 7-5-309(b )(1 )(B) (Supp. 2017).
18
Bailey, 318 Ark. at 284, 884 S.W.2d at 944.
19
Id. at 293, 884 S.W.2d at 946-47.

20
Id. at 284, 884 S.W.2d at 942. Language "tinged with partisan coloring" has been identified by the Arkansas Supreme Court as language that "creates a fatally misleading tendency" (Crochet v. Priest, 326 Ark. 338, 347, 931 S.W.2d 128, 133 (1996)) or that "gives the voter only the impression that the proponents of the proposed amendment wish to convey of the activity represented by the words." Christian Civic Action Committee, 318 Ark. at 249, 884 S.W.2d at 610. 21 Becker v. McCuen, 303 Ark. 482, 489, 798 S.W.2d 71, 74 (1990).
22
Christian Civic Action Committee, 318 Ark. at 245, 884 S.W.2d at 607 (internal quotations omitted). 23 Roberts v. Priest, 341 Ark. 813, 825, 20 S.W.3d 376, 382 (2000).

24 Id.

David A. Couch, Esq.
Opinion No. 2018-053
Page 7

current law are unclear or ambiguous, it is impossible for me to perform my statutory duty to the satisfaction of the Arkansas Supreme Court without ( 1) clarification or removal of the ambiguities in the proposal itself, and (2) conformance of the popular name and ballot title to the newly worded proposal.

RESPONSE

In light of the Court's pronouncements, noted above, it is my opinion that a number of additions or changes to your ballot title are necessary in order to more fully and correctly summarize your proposal. I cannot, however, at this time, fairly or completely summarize the effect of your proposed measure to the electorate in a popular name or ballot title because of central, fundamental ambiguities in the text of the measure itself. Because of these significant issues, I again have not conducted a thorough, point-by-point review of your proposal. 25 Rather, I will point out what I view to be these baseline deficiencies with your submission.

DISCUSSION

The ballot title must both accurately summarize the proposed measure's text and sufficiently inform the voters about the changes in current law they are being asked to approve. A fundamental flaw in your current proposed measure turns on this latter requirement.

You attempt to inform voters what existing law provides by restating verbatim the statutory definitions of both "employer" and "employee" 26 into the ballot title. Merely regurgitating these technical terms' definitions and turning them into sentences for inclusion in a ballot title does not, in my opinion, serve to adequately summarize the current law you propose to change. In fact, it more likely compounds the problem regarding what voters are expected to read and comprehend during their time in the voting booth by introducing new technical terms contained within these definitions. 27

25
Cf Op. Att'y Gen. 2016-099.
26
See Ark. Code Ann.§ 11-4-203(3) and (4) (Supp. 2017).
27
For example, the terms "gratuit[ies]," "independent contractor," and "man-day," all included in the definition of "employer" as copied in your ballot title, are terms defined in the Arkansas Code, and would therefore, in my opinion, amount to "technical terms." As such, voters should not have to guess as to their meanings in this context. See Wilson, 2016 Ark. 334 at *9, 500 S.W.3d at 167.

David A. Couch, Esq.
Opinion No. 2018-053
Page 8

Moreover, your failure to succinctly summarize your proposed changes to current law has significantly expanded your proposed ballot title, which can complicate matters for voters because of their limited time in a voting booth. 28 While not reason alone for me to reject your popular name and ballot title, at 967 words, your ballot title is quite long. As I have explained in the past, 29 while the Court is willing to give Amendment 730 a liberal construction when determining the 31 sufficiency of a ballot title, the Court has clearly stated "that does not mean that liberality knows no bounds or [that] common sense has no place in the matter." 32 As the Court explained:

While neither the length nor complexity of the ballot title should be a controlling factor, it is a consideration. The great majority of Arkansas voters are limited, as a practical matter, in the amount of time that can be spent considering such a proposal. Furthermore, common sense requires that we ask whether the average voter can make an intelligent considerate decision based on the ballot title. 33

With these precedents in mind, prudence would suggest that you consider whether a ballot title of a length like the one you have currently proposed would meet the Court's standards for intelligent consideration by the voters in the allotted time. Should you choose to revise and resubmit your measure and ballot title, your ballot title must thoroughly and concisely summarize the proposed measure's important features. And how you choose to acknowledge your proposal's effects on existing law, and how you convey that to the voters, is a matter for you to determine and submit to this office in draft form. Where a proposed ballot title is

28
See supra text accompanying notes 16-18.
29
See, e.g., Ops. Att'y Gen. 2018-032, 2017-055, 2017-042, 2016-099.
3
°Codified at Ark. Const., art. 5, § 1 (Supp. 2017).
31
See Becker, supra note 3, 270 Ark. at 225, 604 S.W.2d at 558.
32
Dust v. Riviere, 277 Ark. 1, 6, 638 S.W.2d 663, 666 (1982).
33
Id. The Court, referencing its earlier opinion in Newton v. Hall, 196 Ark. 929, 120 S.W.2d 364 (1938), noted that "the length of the title could be a serious objection because the law recognizes that an elector's time is limited in occupying a voting booth." Id The Court ultimately held that the ballot title in that case, which contained 706 words, was "so complex, detailed, lengthy, misleading and confusing that the Arkansas voter cannot intelligently make a choice based on the title." Id.

David A. Couch, Esq.
Opinion No. 2018-053
Page 9

so deficient in summarizing the proposal and its effect in a fair, accurate, and 34 complete manner, this office may decline to prepare a substitute ballot title.

CONCLUSION

The problems noted above are not necessarily all that are contained in your proposal, but they are sufficiently serious to require me to reject your popular name and ballot title. They render me unable to substitute language in a ballot title for your measure. Further, additional issues may come to light on review of any revisions of your proposal.

My office, in the certification of ballot titles and popular names, does not address the merits, philosophy, or ideology of proposed measures. I have no constitutional role in the shaping or drafting of such measures. My statutory mandate is embodied only in Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107, and my duty is to the electorate.

Based on what has been submitted, my statutory duty is to reject your proposed ballot title for the fore~oing reasons and instruct you to redesign the proposed measure and ballot title. 5

Sincerely,

~"'-----~
LESLIE
7~~
RUTLE~
Attorney General

Enclosure

34
See Op. Att'y Gen . 2012-033 (and opinions cited therein).
35
Ark. Code Ann. § 7-9-107(c).

POPULAR NAME
AN ACT TO INCREASE THE ARKANSAS MINIMUM WAGE

BALLOT TITLE

An act to amend the Arkansas Code concerning the state minimum wage; the act would raise the current state minimum wage from eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50) per hour to nine dollars and twenty-five cents ($9.25) per hour on January 1, 2019, to ten dollars ($10.00) per hour on January 1, 20202, to eleven dollars ($11.00) per hour and January 1, 2021 and to twelve dollars ($12.00) per hour on January 1, 2022. The act makes no other changes to the existing law regarding the state minimum wage other than to increase the minimum wage. Existing Arkansas Law defines employer as any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, the State of Arkansas, any political subdivision of the state, or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee. Employer does not include any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee for any work week in which fewer than four (4) employees are employed. Existing Arkansas Law defines employee as any individual employed by an employer but shall not include: (A) Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity or as an outside commission-paid salesperson who customarily performs his or her services away from his or her employer's premises taking orders for goods or services; (B) Any student performing services for any school, college, or university in which he or she is enrolled and is regularly attending classes; (C) Any individual employed by the United States; (D) Any individual engaged in the activities of any educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization in which the employer-employee relationship does not in fact exist or in which the services are rendered to the organizations gratuitously; (E) Any bona fide independent contractor; (F) Any individual employed by an agricultural employer who did not use more than five hundred (500) man-days of agricultural labor in any calendar quarter of the preceding calendar year; (G) The parent, spouse, child, or other member of an agricultural employer's immediate family; (H) An individual who:(i) Is employed as a hand-harvest laborer and is paid on a piece-rate basis in an operation that has been, and is customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece-rate basis in the region of employment; (ii) Commutes daily from his or her permanent residence to the farm on which he or she is so employed; and (iii) Has been employed in agriculture less than thirteen (13) weeks during the preceding calendar year; (I) A migrant who: (i) Is sixteen (16) years of age or under and is employed as a hand-harvest laborer; (ii) Is paid on a piece-rate basis in an operation that has

been, and is customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid on a piece-rate basis in the region of employment; (iii) Is employed on the same farm as his or her parents; and(iv) Is paid the same piece-rate as employees over sixteen (16) years of age are paid on the same farm; (J) Any employee principally engaged in the range production of livestock; (K) Any employee employed in planting or tending trees, cruising, surveying, or felling timber or in preparing or transporting logs or other forestry products to the mill, processing plants, or railroad or other transportation terminal if the number of employees employed by his or her employer in the forestry or lumbering operations does not exceed eight (8); (L) An employee employed by a nonprofit recreational or educational camp that does not operate for more than seven (7) months in any calendar year; (M) A nonprofit child welfare agency employee who serves as a houseparent who is:(i) Directly involved in caring for children who reside in residential facilities of the nonprofit child welfare agency and who are orphans, in foster care, abused, neglected, abandoned, homeless, in need of supervision, or otherwise in crisis situations that lead to out-of-home placements; and (ii) Compensated at an annual rate of not less than thirteen thousand dollars ($13,000) or compensated at an annual rate of not less than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) if the employee resides in the residential facility and receives board and lodging at no cost; (N) An employee employed in connection with the publication of a weekly, semiweekly, or daily newspaper with a circulation:(i) Of less than four thousand (4,000); and (ii) The major part of which is within the county in which the newspaper is published or counties contiguous to the county in which the newspaper is published; (0) An employee employed on a casual basis in domestic service employment to provide:(i) Babysitting services; or (ii) Companionship services for individuals who are unable to care for themselves because of age or infirmity; (P) An employee engaged in the delivery of newspapers to retail subscribers; (Q) A home worker engaged in:(i) Making wreaths composed principally of natural holly, pine, cedar, or other evergreens; and (ii) Harvesting natural holly, pine, cedar, and other evergreens used in making such wreaths; or (R) (i) An individual employed by an establishment that is an organized camp or a religious or nonprofit educational conference center if: (a) The organized camp or a religious or nonprofit educational conference center does not operate for more than seven (7) months in a calendar year; or (b) During the preceding calendar year, the average receipts of the organized camp or a religious or nonprofit educational conference center for any six (6) months of the preceding calendar year were not more than thirty-three and one-third percent (33 1/3%) of the average receipts of the organized camp or a religious or nonprofit educational conference center for the other six (6) months of the preceding calendar year.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE ST ATE OF ARKANSAS:

SECTION 1. Arkansas Code§ 11-4-210(a), concerning the state minimum wage, is amended to read as follows:

(a)(l) Beginning October 1, 2006, every employer shall pay each of his or her employees wages at the rate of not less than six dollars and twenty-five cents ($6.25) per hour except as otherwise provided in this subchapter.

(2) Beginning January 1, 2015, every employer shall pay each of his or her employees wages at the rate of not less than seven dollars and fifty cents ($7.50) per hour, beginning January 1, 2016 the rate of not less than eight dollars ($8.00) per hour and beginning January 1, 2017 the rate of not less than eight dollars and fifty cents ($8.50) per hour except as otherwise provided in this subchapter.

(3) Beginning January 11 2019, every employer shall pay each of his or her employees wages at the rate of not less than nine dollars and twenty-five cents ($9.25) per hour/ beginning January 11 2020 the rate of not less than ten dollars ($10.00) per hour, beginning January 1, 2021 the rate of not less than eleven dollars ($11.00) per hour beginning January 11 2012 the rate of not less than twelve ($12.00) per hour except as otherwise provided in this subchapter.