The Senate has voted 27-8 in favor of banning local ballot measures or local ordinances raising the minimum wage; HB 463 had previously passed the House, so it now goes to Gov. Butch Otter. Sen. Steve Vick, Dalton Gardens, said he has worked as a building contractor for three decades. “Where I live, we have lots of local jurisdictions, and if I was paying somebody less than a local minimum wage, I could be in trouble,” he told the Senate. “That causes me concern as a business owner, and I think would concern other business owners. … Quite often it’s done by initiative. The initiative maybe doesn’t take into account the impact on the businesses.”

Sen. Jim Rice, R-Caldwell, the bill’s Senate sponsor, said, “Patchworks on minimum wage can cause real problems.”

Senate Minority Leader Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum, said, “I’m told businesses already pay above minimum wage, and if this is true, we already have a patchwork of wages. What are we afraid of?”

McCall is the only Idaho city that thus far has held an election on a local initiative to raise the minimum wage; it failed. Idaho's minimum wage matches the federal minimum, $7.25 per hour.