Proponents of Amendment 70 are compelled to raise the state’s minimum wage to $12 hour, claiming it will help those struggling to make ends meet.

Over the past eight years, wages have stagnated and many are having difficulty finding work. Still, it has been proven time and time again that government intrusion into the free market does more harm than good. In fact, researchers with the Common Sense Policy Roundtable have found that raising minimum wage in Colorado to $12 would lead to 90,000 fewer jobs.

The reality is, raising the price of hiring a worker will mean fewer workers are hired. With notable agreement, many economists at the Federal Reserve Board reviewed two decades of research and found that 85 percent of the most credible studies point to job losses for less-skilled employees. Why? They are “priced out” of jobs by an increase in the minimum wage.

The “face of the minimum wage” is not who many believe it to be. Nationally, over 96 percent of minimum wage earners do not solely depend on that income to live. The increase is not helping the poor since most below the poverty level do not work. Not only that, 86 percent are 25 years old or younger, and over half are teens.

It’s also important to note that raising the minimum wage does not decrease dependence on welfare, nor does it boost economic activity.

Despite the overwhelming evidence, many insist government intervention in forcing a wage mandate is the solution. But government cannot create prosperity – it can only redistribute it. We know from experience that this means some may be helped, while those who need it the most are hurt.

Government intrusions into the economy continue to make life more expensive for Coloradans. For example, Obamacare further inserted the government into health care. Yes, the law has made it possible for some people to gain access to health insurance. Yet, at the same time it increased costs for millions of others – including premium increases as high as 49 percent in Colorado. We should be enacting reforms to increase the supply of health care, rather than imposing mandates that raise costs on some to provide for others, while Colorado families pay the price.

Similarly, the federal government promised to make college affordable by largely taking over student loans. As government has expanded its role in this space, colleges simply continue to increase tuition rates, since the government will continue to pay.

The result is over $1.3 trillion in student debt, rising tuition, and no end in sight. Government intrusion sought to address a problem but has merely subsidized and worsened it instead.

Even the energy that we use to turn on our lights and heat our homes could dramatically increase in cost due to government policies. Using the EPA, the Obama administration is calling for the implementation of aggressive reductions in carbon emissions. Though the Supreme Court put a stay on this effort, due to potential ‘irreparable harm,’ our governor still wants to up the ante in Colorado by going beyond the EPA’s plan. And what does this overreach mean for Coloradans? At least a $610/year rate increase. And who will be hurt the most? People on low or fixed incomes.

While these examples are not identical to a minimum wage increase, the flaw behind them is the same: government intrusion into the free market comes with inordinate costs to taxpayers, and often harms the very people it claims to help.

Often, there are also political forces at play, too. For example, health insurance companies lobbied hard for Obamacare. And now powerful labor unions – who use the minimum wage as a baseline for their contracts – are behind the push to increase the minimum wage.

While it would appear beneficial at face value, like other government mandates a minimum wage increase will kill jobs, raise prices, and make it more difficult for Coloradans to succeed. That is why we recommend that you vote ‘no’ vote on Amendment 70 this November.

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Michael Fields is the state director for Americans for Prosperity-Colorado which has over 127,000 Colorado activists working together to hold government accountable and expand economic freedom and opportunity for all. For more information, please visit AFPColorado.com.