BOISE — Backers of an initiative to raise Idaho’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2024 announced Tuesday that they’ve gathered 5,000 signatures toward the 55,057 needed to put their measure on the November 2020 ballot.

While that’s not quite 10% of what will eventually be needed, Rod Couch, head of Idahoans for a Fair Wage, said the all-volunteer group hit the milestone in “a very short time, just about six weeks.”

“We feel like we’re off to a great start,” Couch said.

They have until April 30, 2020 to gather the necessary signatures from registered Idaho voters, which would comprise 6% of those who were registered to vote in the November 2018 election. In addition, the total would need to include 6% of registered voters in at least 18 of Idaho’s 35 legislative districts.

So volunteers gathered at the Boise Bench home of Rep. John Gannon, D-Boise, on Tuesday night for a rally and picnic to celebrate.

“The government is failing to address the wage stagnation gap,” Gannon told a crowd of about 35 petition-wielding volunteers gathered in the early-evening heat on his front lawn.

Couch said, “People in Idaho are struggling. … The last time Idaho’s minimum wage was raised was in 2009. It’s been 10 years.”

Idaho’s minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, like 20 other states but just two of its neighbors, Utah and Wyoming. Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Washington all have higher minimum wages, with Washington the highest at $12 an hour.

The initiative would raise Idaho’s minimum to $8.75 an hour on June 1, 2021, then raise it another dollar a year for the next two years, hitting $12 an hour on June 1, 2024. It also would eliminate the current “training wage” that allows people under age 20 to be paid $4.25 an hour for their first 90 days on the job.

The organizers said they turned to the citizen initiative process because state lawmakers haven’t acted on the matter in a decade.

Rep. Sue Chew, D-Boise, said she’s found it easy to gather signatures for the initiative, with a sign on the back of her clipboard simply reading in large letters, “INITIATIVE TO INCREASE MINIMUM WAGE.”

“We just point, and people come sign,” she said. “It’s very easy, very fun.”