15 years ago, on April 17, 2008, Gov. John Baldacci signed a minimum wage increase for workers in Maine, raising the wage from $7.00 an hour to $7.50 over two years. The increase meant the legislature had raised the minimum wage eight times in eight years (from $5.15 to $7.50) as we worked to catch up with inflation and productivity.
Democrats controlled both houses of the legislature and the Blaine House in most of those years, making it clear which party fought for the working class in Maine.
I know all this because I was at the signing. I proudly sponsored the bill and, as chair of the Labor committee, worked with advocates to build the support needed to get the increase through the legislature, to the governor’s desk, and signed into law.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think that that April day fifteen years ago would be the last time the legislature would raise the minimum wage. But it was.
Since then, the only increases we have been able to win in Maine are through referendums at the municipal level and statewide. In fact, thanks to citizen initiatives, the minimum wage is now $13.80 statewide and $14 an hour in both Portland and Rockland (for most workers) and on its way to $15 in both municipalities.
There was some hope that this legislature, and Democrats in particular, would take up their authority and once again show that we are the party of working people. Sadly, it didn’t happen.
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