130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2021
Legislative Document No. 543
H.P. 388 House of Representatives, February 24, 2021
An Act To Provide That the Minimum Wage Increases by the Cost
of Living Every 3 Years
Received by the Clerk of the House on February 22, 2021. Referred to the Committee on
Labor and Housing pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule
401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative BRADSTREET of Vassalboro.
Cosponsored by Representatives: ARATA of New Gloucester, HAGGAN of Hampden,
MORRIS of Turner.
Printed on recycled paper
 1 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2 Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §664, sub-§1, as amended by IB 2015, c. 2, §1, is further
3 amended to read:
4 1. Minimum wage. The minimum hourly wage is $7.50 per hour. Starting January
5 1, 2017, the minimum hourly wage is $9.00 per hour; starting January 1, 2018, the
6 minimum hourly wage is $10.00 per hour; starting January 1, 2019, the minimum hourly
7 wage is $11.00 per hour; and starting January 1, 2020, the minimum hourly wage is $12.00
8 per hour. On Starting January 1, 2021 and each January 1st every 3 years thereafter, on
9 January 1st the minimum hourly wage then in effect must be increased by the increase, if
10 any, in the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living must be measured by the total
11 percentage increase, if any, as of August of the previous year over the level as of August
12 of the year preceding that year January 4 years prior to the date of increase to January of
13 the year prior to the date of increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners
14 and Clerical Workers, CPI-W, for the Northeast Region, or its successor index, as published
15 by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor
16 agency, with the amount of the minimum wage increase rounded to the nearest multiple of
17 5¢. If the highest federal minimum wage is increased in excess of the minimum wage in
18 effect under this section, the minimum wage under this section is increased to the same
19 amount, effective on the same date as the increase in the federal minimum wage, and must
20 be increased in accordance with this section thereafter.
21 SUMMARY
22 This bill changes the annual cost-of-living increase in the minimum hourly wage from
23 annual to triennial. Current law provides that the minimum hourly wage is adjusted for the
24 cost of living annually.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 543, HP 388: 26.664