The amended version of LD 1376 would have raised Maine’s minimum wage (currently $13.80) to $15 in January 2024, with continued increases each year after, pegged to the cost of living.
A $15 minimum wage has been a core organizing goal for anti-poverty and workers’ rights advocates across the country for nearly a decade. While inflation may have made the $15 figure a bit less meaningful, raising the wage from the $14.60 projected next year to $15 would put millions of dollars into the pockets of 127,000 low-income Maine workers and their families.
The bill passed by one vote in the House and by a wider margin in the Senate, despite opposition from Gov. Mills. But it was left out of the budget and Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee members chose not to provide funding to increase wages for state workers, quietly killing the popular legislation.