130th MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2021
Legislative Document No. 1279
H.P. 939 House of Representatives, March 29, 2021
An Act To Increase the Minimum Wage
Received by the Clerk of the House on March 25, 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 COLLINGS of Portland.
Cosponsored by Representatives: DUNPHY of Old Town, ROBERTS of South Berwick,
TALBOT ROSS of Portland.
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; starting January 1, 2022, the minimum hourly wage is $13.00 per hour; starting
9 January 1, 2023, the minimum hourly wage is $14.00 per hour; starting January 1, 2024,
10 the minimum hourly wage is $15.00 per hour; and, starting January 1, 2025, the minimum
11 hourly wage is $16.00 per hour. On January 1, 2021 2026 and each January 1st thereafter,
12 the minimum hourly wage then in effect must be increased by the increase, if any, in the
13 cost of living. The increase in the cost of living must be measured by the percentage
14 increase, if any, as of August of the previous year over the level as of August of the year
15 preceding that year in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical
16 Workers, CPI-W, for the Northeast Region, or its successor index, as published by the
17 United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency, with
18 the amount of the minimum wage increase rounded to the nearest multiple of 5¢. If the
19 highest federal minimum wage is increased in excess of the minimum wage in effect under
20 this section, the minimum wage under this section is increased to the same amount,
21 effective on the same date as the increase in the federal minimum wage, and must be
22 increased in accordance with this section thereafter.
23 SUMMARY
24 This bill increases the minimum hourly wage, starting January 1, 2022, from its present
25 $12.00 per hour to $13.00 per hour and by an additional $1.00 per hour each year until the
26 minimum wage on January 1, 2025 is $16.00 per hour. Beginning January 1, 2026 and
27 every year after, the minimum wage increases by the increase, if any, in the cost of living.
Page 1 - 130LR1398(01)


Statutes affected:
Bill Text LD 1279, HP 939: 26.664