After voters in Arkansas passed a minimum wage ballot measure, the first increase is set to take place on January 1, 2019.
The measure, which passed with 68 percent of the vote, will increase the minimum wage to $11 per hour by 2021. But the increase will happen gradually over the next three years.
At the beginning of 2019, the minimum wage will increase to $9.25 per hour. In 2020, it increases to $10 per hour before increasing to $11 per hour in 2021.
Governor Asa Hutchinson told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette before the elections that the wage increase would be a "job killer for our youth particularly."
Arkansans will also be saving some money on their grocery bills in 2019. The grocery tax is dropping from 1.5 percent to 0.125 percent. It’s the final cut under a bill that was passed in 2009 by former Governor Mike Beebee.