Mary Jo Pitzl, and Macaela J Bennett

The Republic | azcentral.com

Supporters of a citizens initiative to raise Arizona's minimum wage to $12 an hour filed petitions Thursday to qualify for the Nov. 8 ballot.

It sets the stage for a fall ballot that likely will have three, maybe four, propositions.

The Fair Wages and Healthy Families campaign surpassed both the minimum number of signatures needed to quality and its own expectations by collecting more than 271,000.

Also Thursday, the campaign for the Hospital Executive Compensation Act submitted 281,000 signatures in support of its proposal to cap hospital executive pay at no more than the salary paid the president of the United States. Currently, the president earns $400,000 a year, plus $50,000 for expenses.

It takes 150,642 valid signatures for a citizens' initiative to qualify, giving both proposals a strong shot at getting before voters this fall.

The signatures for the minimum-wage hike filled about 50 boxes that were stacked to form a backdrop for organizers as they celebrated outside the state Capitol.

"These boxes show that thousands of people are saying now is the time," said Tomas Robles, deputy campaign manager.

Campaign volunteer Angela Romero, 19, said she and hundreds of other volunteers worked six days a week for almost three months to gather signatures.

She said some people voiced concerns about raising the minimum wage and guaranteeing paid sick leave, but a majority responded positively when they learned it would help 1 million workers, most of them minorities.

Arizona House kills bill to raise minimum wage

The initiative proposes a gradual increase in the current $8.05 hourly minimum, with a hike to $10 by Jan. 1. By 2020, the minimum wage would increase to $12, with annual adjustments pegged to the Consumer Price Index after that. In addition, it would require employers to offer mandatory sick leave: five days a year for companies with 15 or more employees and three days a year for those with fewer than 15.

Arizona voters in 2006 established a state minimum wage higher than what federal law required. But the current $8 an hour pay is not enough to support a family, and supporters of the Fair Wages campaign aligned with calls from groups nationally arguing for a higher minimum amount.

If the measure qualifies for the ballot, it will face opposition from business leaders, including the restaurant industry. The ballot proposal attempts to address those concerns by establishing a $9 hourly base for tip workers.

Likewise, the hospital pay cap drew immediate fire from the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association. It called the measure a "union stunt" and said capping hospital executives' salaries would hamper Arizona's ability to attract top-quality talent.

Thursday was the deadline for ballot measures to be filed with the Secretary of State's Office. Although nearly two dozen campaigns filed their intent to circulate initiative petitions, only two have finished the task.

Last week, backers of the campaign to legalize marijuana for recreational use filed its petitions, submitting more than 100,000 signatures above the required amount.

With the prospect of justseveral ballot measures, Arizona voters will face one of the smaller lists in recent history. Two years ago, there were just three measures, but in 2012, voters decided nine ballot propositions. In 2010, there were 10 propositions, 11 in 2008 and, a decade ago, 19.

Many of the proposals for the 2016 ballot never got beyond the first step of taking out petitions, such as Save the Puppies and Kittens! — which sought to prevent the Legislature from blocking local-government efforts to regulate puppy mills; others sputtered later in the game.

Still to come: a referendum to repeal the dark-money bill lawmakers approved earlier this year and which Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law. The Stop Corruption Now campaign has until Aug. 5 to submit more than 75,000 valid voter signatures. If it succeeds, the measure would be added to the November ballot.

Among the citizen proposals that never made it to the ballot:

Open and Honest Elections and Open and Honest Disclosure: These twin ballot measures were touted as a way to change the political game by instituting a "top-two" primary election system and requiring disclosure of "dark money" campaign spending that currently is allowed. But both measures died soon after their January launch when the primary funder backed out, citing objections to financing the disclosure requirement.

These twin ballot measures were touted as a way to change the political game by instituting a "top-two" primary election system and requiring disclosure of "dark money" campaign spending that currently is allowed. But both measures died soon after their January launch when the primary funder backed out, citing objections to financing the disclosure requirement. Arizona Solar Energy Freedom Act: Two weeks after it was launched as a way to protect the rooftop-solar industry from a new fee structure instituted by regulators, organizers withdrew their initiative as part of a compromise with the Legislature, which was threatening to send a competing measure to the ballot.

Two weeks after it was launched as a way to protect the rooftop-solar industry from a new fee structure instituted by regulators, organizers withdrew their initiative as part of a compromise with the Legislature, which was threatening to send a competing measure to the ballot. Clean and Accountable Elections Act: This initiative campaign pulled the plug last week, with organizers complaining their plans to hire a petition firm were thwarted by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry. It would have boosted the money available to candidates using the state's public-campaign-finance system and proposed other changes, such as a ban on gifts.

Reach the reporter at maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com and follow her on Twitter @maryjpitzl