{"id":2667,"date":"2018-04-30T14:00:14","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T18:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.suitupmaine.org\/?p=2667"},"modified":"2019-03-23T22:44:36","modified_gmt":"2019-03-24T02:44:36","slug":"hands-off-paychecks-oppose-minimum-wage-reductions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.suitupmaine.org\/hands-off-paychecks-oppose-minimum-wage-reductions\/","title":{"rendered":"HANDS OFF OUR PAYCHECKS: Oppose Minimum Wage Reductions"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Republican legislators in Augusta are again thwarting the will of the voters by rushing through a reduction of the minimum wage and an ageist sub-minimum wage for teens. UPDATE: LD 1757 is legislatively dead, but Gov LePage and Republican legislators are threatening to hold other unresolved issues hostage by refusing to extend the legislative session unless a minimum wage rollback is passed.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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SUM Admin C2A<\/strong><\/p>\n

UPDATE:\u00a0LD 1757 is legislatively dead, but Gov LePage and Republican legislators are threatening to hold other unresolved issues hostage by refusing to extend the legislative session unless a minimum wage rollback is passed.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

THE ISSUE<\/span><\/h4>\n

In 2016 Mainers voted to incrementally raise the state\u2019s minimum wage from $7.50 to $12\/hour by 2020. On January 1, the wage took its second step up to $10\/hour. Defying the business lobby\u2019s dire predictions that the raise would cause job losses and slow growth, <\/span>the opposite has proven true<\/span><\/a>. Between January and June of last year, <\/span>employment increased in nearly every industry<\/span><\/a>, including low-wage industries like retail and restaurants. Maine\u2019s unemployment rate hit a 40-year low in 2017, and remains well below the national average. Despite the positive economic indicators, Governor LePage and Republican legislators are once again thwarting the will of the voters by attempting to roll back the wage increase. Their bill, <\/span>LD 1757<\/span><\/a>, would not only reduce this year\u2019s wage to $9.50\/hour, it also halves the amount of each future incremental raise, caps the minimum wage increase at $11 instead of $12\/hour, eliminates the mandated cost of living increase that would have kicked in in 2021, and creates a 20% lower sub-minimum wage for teenagers and a 3-month 15% lower sub-minimum \u201ctraining wage\u201d for 18 and 19 year olds. The bill failed in the House<\/a>, and passed in the Senate<\/a>. When the House took a second vote to attempt to concur with the Senate decision, the motion failed<\/a>, meaning that the bill died in non-concurrence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Update 4\/30:<\/b>\u00a0Gov. LePage continues to blast Maine minimum wage increase, and now House Republicans tightly aligned with him have issued an ultimatum that they won\u2019t support the passage of basically anything<\/a>, including extending the 2018 Legislative session, unless the rest of the Legislature agrees to curtail or slow down the scheduled minimum wage increases. That puts dozens of bills on the cusp of enactment at risk<\/a>, including one that releases $1 billion in subsidies for public schools that was already appropriated last year.<\/p>\n

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THE ACTION<\/span><\/h4>\n

Updated: Make sure legislators who voted against the minimum wage rollback know that you expect them to maintain the will of the voters, and that they should not be blackmailed into circumventing the legislative process. See how your representatives voted on LD 1757<\/a>. See how your senators voted on LD 1757<\/a>. Rollcall translator:\u00a0“Yay” is in favor of reducing the minimum wage, “Nay” is against.<\/span><\/p>\n

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TALKING POINTS<\/span><\/h4>\n