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Arizona minimum wage: What's the cost?

The fight over Arizona's minimum wage increase is back in the State Capitol.

PHOENIX - The fight over Arizona's minimum wage increase is back in the state capitol.

What is Prop 206 going to cost and who's going to pay for it?

The $2 raise to $10 per hour is already having an impact beyond the workers who received the bump. Consumers are paying as little as 10 cents more for a donut, but taxpayers may pay tens of millions more toward schools and disabled services.

The total bill is still unknown.

Jackson Chao bumped up the pay of his Bosa Donuts employees by $2 per hour.

"The make more money," he said. "They're happy and they're willing to work more."

He also raised the price of doughnuts by a dime, to 99 cents.

"It's not going to kill the business," Chao said.

He'll make less money but he'll survive the hit from Arizona's minimum wage bump.

That positive outlook isn't the same across the board, though.

Rhonda Collett doesn't know what will happen to her 26-year-old daughter Megan.

Megan's caregivers at the Blythe Center got raises, too, but the non-profit -- like about 400 others that have contracts with the state -- can't afford to pay them. They need the state's help.

"The alternative is my husband or I stay home," Rhonda said, "and, you know, in this economy that's not an option either."

The non-profits and the people they serve packed a Capitol hearing room Tuesday. Arizona school officials, who are in the same bind, will be there Wednesday.

"I would hope the people making the decisions that impact their lives would have a plan in place," Rhonda said.

That plan doesn't exist yet. Gov. Doug Ducey says covering the non-profits' higher expenses could cost taxpayers $23 million -- the legislature's independent budget analyst says it's $75 million -- if other contractors are included.

That final bill could subtract from other services the state provides.

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