Dive Brief:

• Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has signed a law that bars cities, towns and counties from regulating work-related issues including paid leave, retirement plans or other employee benefits, according to media reports.
• Ducey signed the bill without comment, but has said in the past he doesn't believe municipalities should be able to create their own wage and employment laws.
• Republican Rep. J.D. Mesnard sponsored the proposal, in part as a response to restaurant owners, as Chianne Hewer, a lobbyist for the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association, testified that such local laws would hurt business, reports the Arizona Daily Star.

Dive Insight:

For their part, Republican lawmakers say employee benefits are a statewide concern that should be equally applied to all cities and towns.

But there will be opposition, and likely litigation, according to the Daily Sun. Rebekah Friend, executive director of the state AFL-CIO, told the Daily Sun that lawmakers and the governor may have gone too far, saying that a 2006 voter-approved law that created a state minimum wage also covers fringe benefits and working conditions.

That law, Friend said, "specifically gives communities the right to create standards above and beyond the minimum." She also said the Arizona Constitution bans the legislature from "tinkering with anything" that has been approved by voters, and she expects the law will lead to a lawsuit.

Lawmakers in Alabama, who passed a similar law that banned local minimum wage ordinances, are also seeing legal pressure from the Alabama NAACP and other groups.