The Maine House and Senate passed a bill this week that would increase the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour next year.
The successful floor votes could make Maine the twelfth state, along with Washington D.C., to pass a law to raise their hourly wage floor to at least $15 — unless Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat, vetoes the bill.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Ben Collings (D-Portland), would raise the minimum wage from $13.80 to $15 in 2024, then schedule annual increases to the wage floor based on the rate of inflation.
House Democrats passed the bill on Monday by a single vote, 71-70, and it passed the Senate on Tuesday in a 22-11 vote.
But the Mills administration was quick to throw cold water on the proposal, telling the Bangor Daily News on Tuesday that the governor was against the measure, although she didn’t go as far to say that she’d veto the bill.
Mills spokesperson Ben Goodman said the governor preferred Maine’s current minimum wage law that was passed by a ballot referendum in 2016 and includes cost-of-living adjustments.
“She believes it is reasonable and provides much-needed predictability and certainty for employers, while also providing one of the highest minimum wages in the country for workers,” Goodman told BDN. “She would prefer Maine continue to follow this path.”
A veto would put Mills behind the curve with many members of her party. Since the “Fight for $15” movement began advocating for a living wage in 2012 through strikes by low-wage childcare,...
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