An Act To Prevent Real Minimum Wages from Falling
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1653
Committee: Labor
Sponsors: HINCK, BRYANT, BEAUDOIN, BEAULIEU, BURNS, CASA VANT, FAIRCLOTH, PIOTTI, DAMON, MARTIN
Amends: 26 MRSA §663, 26 MRSA §664

Legislative Document 
No. 1653 
H.P.1162 
House of Representatives, March 22, 2007 
An Act To Prevent Real Minimum Wages from Falling 
Reference to the Committee on Labor suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative HINCK of Portland. 
Cosponsored by Senator BRYANT of Oxford and 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Representatives: BEAUDOIN of Biddeford, BEAULIEU of Auburn, BURNS of Berwick, 
CASA VANT of Biddeford, FAIRCLOTH of Bangor, PIOTTI of Unity, Senators: DAMON of 
Hancock, MARTIN of Aroostook. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §663, sub-§14 is enacted to read: 
14. Consumer price index. "Consumer price index" means the Consumer Price 
Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, CPI-W, for the Northeast Region, 
or successor index, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of 
Labor Statistics. 
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §663, sub-§15 is enacted to read: 
15. 
Inflation-adjusted minimum hourly wage. 
"Inflation-adjusted mInImum 
hourly wage" means the minimum hourly wage adjusted for increases in the consumer 
price index. The inflation-adjusted minimum hourly wage is calculated annually by the 
bureau in accordance with section 664, subsection I-A. 
Sec. 3. 26 MRSA §664, sub-§l, as amended by PL 2005, c. 578, § 1, is further 
amended to read: 
1. Minimum wage. The minimum hourly wage is ~ 
$6.75 per hour. StartiAg 
Oetober 1, 2006, tke fRiAifRHfR kO\:lFly l/t'ag0 is $6.75 fJ0r kOHF. Starting October 1, 2007, 
the minimum hourly wage is $7.00 per hour. Starting January 1, 2008 and on January 1 st 
of each year thereafter, the minimum hourly wage is the inflation-adjusted minimum 
hourly wage calculated in accordance with subsection I-A. 
If the highest federal 
minimum wage is increased in excess of the minimum wage in effect under this section, 
the minimum wage under this section is increased to the same amount, effective on the 
same date as the increase in the federal minimum wage, but in no case may the minimum 
wage exceed the minimum wage otherwise in effect under this section by more than $1 
per hour. 
Sec. 4. 26 MRSA §664, sub-§l-A is enacted to read: 
1-A. Minimum wage; inflation adjustment. No later than November 1, 2007 and 
on November 1st of each year thereafter, the Department of Labor shall calculate the 
inflation-adjusted minimum hourly wage for the following calendar year. 
The 
department shall specify by rule a methodology for calculation of the inflation-adjusted 
minimum hourly wage. The methodology must: 
A. Use the consumer price index to calculate inflation; and 
B. 
Exclude from the calculation of inflation any month in which the seasonally 
adjusted unemployment rate for the State exceeds the seasonally adjusted 
unemployment rate for the United States, as published by the United States 
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
Each inflation-adjusted minimum hourly wage calculated under this subsection takes 
effect on January 1 st of the following year. 
The department shall adopt rules to 
implement this subsection. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine 
technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
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SUMMARY 
This bill provides for the state minimum hourly wage to be adjusted for inflation 
beginning January 1, 2008 and annually thereafter. The bill requires the Department of 
Labor to calculate the inflation-adjusted minimum hourly wage based on changes in the 
consumer price index and to exclude from the calculation any month in which the State's 
unemployment rate exceeds the national unemployment rate.