Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin is asking the state Supreme Court to dismiss a Little Rock businessman's lawsuit trying to block a proposed minimum wage increase from the November ballot. Martin's office on Wednesday asked the court to dismiss Jackson T. Stephens Jr.'s lawsuit challenging the proposed initiated act, which would raise the state's minimum wage from $6.25 an hour to $8.50 by 2017. Martin's office earlier this month certified the proposal for the ballot. Stephens, the son of Stephens Inc. co-founder Jackson T. Stephens Sr., is challenging the validity of signatures submitted for the proposal and argues the state used the wrong deadline for accepting petitions. The chairman of Give Arkansas A Raise Now, which is campaigning for the proposed increase, has asked to intervene in the case.
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