Campaign Suspended due to Coronavirus

Lou-Ann, Tex, and I are eternally grateful to all who helped our efforts to help 250,000 Idahoans out of poverty. To those who helped us financially, we couldn’t have gotten as far without you—you are our rock! To our amazing leaders, from Tex, to Coalition Director Don Kemper, to Petition Manager Chris Stroh, to our team of superstar district and county leaders: Kathy Dawes, Lisa Schaff, Jon Glick, Chelle Gluch, Misty James, Dianna David, Rita Sherman, Marji Bass, Lynn Schmidt, Carol Sevier, Lauren Ghazikhanian, Erin Zaleski, Diane Jensen, and Tamara Code—you are indeed an all-star lineup and I am so thankful for each and every day you sacrificed to help the cause. For your advice, your hard work in getting signatures and volunteers, your strategy and ideas—wow—you all are so awesome!



And for everyone who gathered signatures, donated your hard-earned money, spread our message, and recruited volunteers, thank you so much! The hard-working poor of Idaho have great friends!



We achieved over 32,000 signatures statewide, more than doubling the existing record for a minimum wage initiative. Never before has an effort to raise the minimum wage been so organized statewide nor come as far as we did, and YOU are to thank. We learned a lot along the way, but it is your steadfast devotion to the cause that sustained us throughout. To get 48,000 signatures in 6 weeks would be challenging by itself, and we were prepared to give it our all. The onset of COVID-19 has made those efforts impossible, not simply because of the dangers to our volunteers, but because organizers of events are voluntarily closing and people are staying home. These reactions are positive because that is what they should be doing, but they have made qualifying the initiative impossible.



We looked into the possibility of Gov. Little allowing online signatures or extending the deadline, but those efforts were unsuccessful. We also kept open every possibility of others leading the effort going forward and kept silent about our feelings at their request to not do anything to hamper their efforts should they take the reins.



Thus, we are suspending our campaign. This is NOT the end. Our efforts will now focus on persuading what we hope is a new president and Congress to pass minimum wage legislation at the national level. If we can get them to prioritize this legislation, Idahoans can get raises nearly as quickly as we were proposing. This is the best and quickest way to achieve our goals and we will use our leadership to encourage our members to support this effort in every way possible. And, we'll also keep our website open and use it and our public FB page to continue to educate the public on why we need to raise wages in Idaho now!



Once again, thank you so much for everything you've done! Now, let’s all work on getting a new president in the White House and passing minimum wage legislation in the U.S. Congress!



Many Thanks!



Rod

Treasurer, Idahoans for a Fair Wage