By Lauren Kuby, Kolby Granville, David Schapira, Regina Romero and Eva Putzova | The Arizona Republic
(Editor’s note: Opinion pieces are published for discussions purposes only.)
Officials: We have no choice but to join a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a bill that ties cities’ hands.
Last month, the Arizona Legislature passed and Gov. Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2579, prohibiting cities and towns from enacting an earned-sick-day policy for workers in their communities.
This preemptive law was a shot across the bow of Tempe and Tucson, which had been exploring citywide sick-day initiatives and striving to craft compromise ordinances that would have guaranteed baseline protections for workers in those cities.
This week, five council members from three cities, 22 state representatives and 10 state senators from across Arizona, filed suit in Maricopa County Superior Court challenging the constitutionality of HB 2579.
