An Act To Protect Maine's Economy by Slowing the Rate at Which the State's Minimum Wage Will Increase and Establishing a Training and Youth Wage
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1757
Committee Amendment CA_A_H666 (House)
Amends: 26 MRSA §664

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1210, L.D. 1757, Bill, "An Act To 
Protect Maine's Economy by Slowing the Rate at Which the State's Minimum Wage Will 
Increase and Establishing a Training and Youth Wage" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Protect Maine's Economy by Slowing the Rate at Which the State's 
Minimum Wage Will Increase and Establishing a Youth Wage' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
emergency clause and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §664, sub-§1, as amended by IB 2015, c. 2, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
1. Minimum wage. The minimum hourly wage is $7.50 per hour, Starting January 
1, 2017, the minimum hourly 1.vage is $9.00 per hour; starting January 1, 2018, the 
minimum hourly wage is $10.00 per hour; starting Ja.t1.uary 1, 2019, the minimum hourly 
wage is $11.00 per hour; a.t1.d starting. Starting January 1, 2020, the minimum hourly 
wage is~ $10.50 per hour; starting January 1, 2021, the minimum hourly wage is 
$11.00 per hour; starting January 1, 2022, the minimum hourly wage is $11.50 per hour; 
and starting January 1, 2023. the minimum hourly wage is $12.00 per hour. On January 
1, 20U 2024 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, and must be increased in accordance with this section thereafter. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
,·, 
COMMITTEEAMENDMENT"A "toH,P. 1210,L,D.1757 
Sec. 2. 26 MRSA §664, sub-§1-A is enacted to read: 
1-A. Minimum wage for youths. Notwithstanding subsection 1, the following 
minimum wage rate may be paid to an employee who is an unemancipated minor under 
years of age for the first 200 work hours of employment: 
A. The greater of: 
(1) Eighty percent of the minimum wage in effect pursuant to subsection l I 
rounded to the nearest 5 cents: and 
(2) The minimum wage required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the minority report of the committee, strikes and replaces 
the bill. It amends the minimum wage law by keeping the current minimum wage of $10 
per hour until January 1, 2020, when the minimum hourly wage rate is increased to 
$10.50. On January 1st from 2021 to 2023 the minimum hourly wage rate is increased 
50¢ per year, ending in a $12 minimum hourly wage rate in 2023. Beginning January 1, 
2024, the minimum hourly wage rate is increased by any increase in the annual cost of 
living, as is scheduled in current law for 2021. 
The amendment also establishes a special minimum wage applicable to 
unemancipated minors under 18 years of age for the first 200 work hours of employment. 
This wage must be at least the minimum wage required by the federal Fair Labor 
Standards Act or 80% of the generally applicable minimum wage under state law, 
whichever is greater. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 02/28/18 ~ac. 
LD 1757 
LR2642(02) 
An Act To Protect Maine's Economy by Slowing the Rate at Which the State's Minimum Wage Will 
Increase and Establishing a Training and Youth Wage 
\ 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment 'A' ( ti-/.tJ ~l/J) 
Committee: Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Potential current biennium savings - All funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Current law requires the $10.00 per hour minimum wage to increase to $11.00 per hour on January 1, 2019, to $12.00 
per hour on January 1, 2020 and by the CPI annually beginning on January 1, 2021. This bill freezes the minimum 
wage at $10.00 per hour until January 1, 2020, when it would increase by $.50 annually until it reaches $12.00 per 
hour on January 1, 2023. Beginning on January 1, 2024 it would increase annually by the CPI. This slowing of 
minimum wage increases may result in savings to the State and municipalities beginning in fiscal year 2018-19, 
depending on the wages that would be paid without these proposed changes. 
Additional costs to the Bureau of Labor Standards within the Department of Labor to implement the requirements of 
this legislation can be absorbed within existing budgeted resources. 
LR2642(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1