Maine could join growing list of states with a $15 minimum wage — unless Mills objects

Some economists have argued that raising the state’s current minimum wage of $13.80 to $15 would create a meaningful increase to workers’ paychecks and help many working Mainers who continue to struggle to make ends meet.

“The proposed increase to $15 per hour in 2024 will raise the earnings of almost 127,000 hourly employees,” James Myall, an analyst with the Maine Center for Economic Policy, wrote in a blog post last month. “This will result in $74 million more in wage earnings compared to Maine’s current minimum wage law that was approved by voters in 2016 and includes cost-of-living adjustments. That means tens of thousands of workers with low wages will have an opportunity to not just keep up with rising costs, but to actually get slightly ahead.”

Click here to read the full story, first published June 14, 2023 in Beacon.