UPDATE: Supreme Court Won’t Take Up Wage Measure

The Supreme Court this afternoon denied a request from the city of Albuquerque to schedule an emergency hearing on the minimum-wage mess.

What happens next isn’t clear, but attorneys for one side or the other are likely to be back in state District Court on Monday trying to get a resolution ahead of the Tuesday deadline.

I’ll do my best to explain what’s going on in tomorrow’s newspaper.

Earlier post: It looks like the debate over getting a minimum-wage proposal on the Nov. 6 ballot will be decided by the Supreme Court.

Attorneys for the city of Albuquerque and the wage coalition met with state District Judge Nan Nash this morning (Friday). They all agreed the matter should go to the New Mexico Supreme Court because it was likely to appealed there anyway.

This morning’s meeting came after OLE New Mexico and other supporters of boosting Albuquerque’s minimum wage filed a petition seeking a court order to put the wage proposal on the Nov. 6 ballot.

City Clerk Amy Bailey has maintained that she doesn’t have authority to do so unless the City Council adopts an election resolution.

City Attorney David Tourek said the parties intend to file a petition with the Supreme Court today in hopes of getting the matter heard on Monday. The deadline for certifying the Nov. 6 ballot is Tuesday.

I’ll have more in tomorrow’s paper.