An Act To Raise the Minimum Wage
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1661
Amends: 26 MRSA §664

Legislative Document 
No. 1661 
I.B. 4 
House of Representatives, March 17, 2016 
An Act To Raise the Minimum Wage 
Transmitted to the Clerk of the 127th Maine Legislature by the Secretary of State on March 
15, 2016 and ordered printed. 
ROBERT B. HUNT 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  26 MRSA §664, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2007, c. 640, §4, is further 
amended to read: 
1.  Minimum wage.  The minimum hourly wage is $6.50 per hour.  Starting October 
1, 2006, the minimum hourly wage is $6.75 per hour.  Starting October 1, 2007, the 
minimum hourly wage is $7.00 per hour.  Starting October 1, 2008, the minimum hourly 
wage is $7.25 per hour.  Starting October 1, 2009, the minimum hourly wage is $7.50 per 
hour.  Starting January 1, 2017, the minimum hourly wage is $9.00 per hour; starting 
January 1, 2018, the minimum hourly wage is $10.00 per hour; starting January 1, 2019, 
the minimum hourly wage is $11.00 per hour; and starting January 1, 2020, the minimum 
hourly wage is $12.00 per hour.  On January 1, 2021 and each January 1st thereafter, the 
minimum hourly wage then in effect must be increased by the increase, if any, in the cost 
of living. The increase in the cost of living must be measured by the percentage increase, 
if any, as of August of the previous year over the level as of August of the year preceding 
that year in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, 
CPI-W, for the Northeast Region, or its successor index, as published by the United 
States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency, with the 
amount of the minimum wage increase rounded to the nearest multiple of 5¢.   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 and must be increased in accordance with this section 
thereafter. 
Sec. 2.  26 MRSA §664, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2011, c. 118, §3, is further 
amended to read: 
2.  Tip credit.  An employer may consider tips as part of the wages of a service 
employee, but such a tip credit may not exceed 50% of the minimum hourly wage 
established in this section.  Starting January 1, 2017, the minimum cash wage paid 
directly to a tipped service employee may not be less than $5.00 per hour, and the tip 
credit may not exceed the difference between the minimum cash wage paid directly to a 
tipped service employee and the minimum hourly wage established under subsection 1.  
Starting January 1, 2018, and on each January 1st thereafter, the minimum cash wage 
paid directly to a tipped service employee must be increased by an additional $1.00 per 
hour until it reaches the same amount as the annually adjusted minimum hourly wage 
established under subsection 1, except that if the minimum cash wage paid directly to a 
tipped service employee is less than $1.00 less than the annually adjusted minimum 
hourly wage, it must be increased by that lesser amount.  An employer who elects to use 
the tip credit, until it is eliminated under this subsection, must inform the affected 
employee in advance and must be able to show that the employee receives at least the 
minimum hourly wage when direct wages and the tip credit are combined.  Upon a 
satisfactory showing by the employee or the employee's representative that the actual tips 
received were less than the tip credit, the employer shall increase the direct wages by the 
difference. 
The tips received by a service employee become the property of the employee and may 
not be shared with the employer.   Tips that are automatically included in the customer's 
bill or that are charged to a credit card must be treated like tips given to the service 
employee.  A tip that is charged to a credit card must be paid by the employer to the 
employee by the next regular payday and may not be held while the employer is awaiting 
reimbursement from a credit card company. 
SUMMARY 
This initiated bill raises the minimum wage to $9.00 per hour in 2017 and by $1.00 
per hour each year after that until it is $12.00 per hour in 2020.  The minimum wage then 
increases at the same rate as the cost of living.  The minimum wage for workers who 
receive tips increases to $5.00 per hour in 2017 and then by $1.00 per hour each year 
until it matches the minimum wage for all other workers, which occurs no sooner than 
2024.