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PHOENIX -- With initiative petitions due today, the head of state's restaurant industry already is gearing up to convince voters to quash an initiative that would boost the state's minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020.

Backers of the measure say they've got more than 250,000 signatures to put the question to voters in November. They contend the current minimum of $8.05 an hour, while higher than what is required under federal law, is insufficient to support families.

But Steve Chucri, president of the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association, said Wednesday the campaign against the measure will be based on showing them how much wages in Arizona have gone up since voters enacted the first minimum wage law in 2006.

Prior to that, Arizona employers had to pay only what was mandated in federal law which was $5.15 an hour. The ballot measure pushed that to $6.75, with a requirement for annual adjustments based on inflation that has pushed the figure to $8.05.

That 2006 measure was approved by a nearly 2-1 margin over the opposition of business groups like his own. Chucri said, though, he believes a case can be made this time to leave things the way they are.