A minimum wage increase that Democratic leaders have been trying to get passed in the Legislature since January is on its way to final passage.
The bill made it out of the House Tuesday with a 73-70 vote in favor and no debate. That was after an amendment was stripped off on Monday that would have delayed the pay hike.
The bill is now on its way to the Senate.
If passed and signed by Gov. John Baldacci, as expected, the bill will raise the minimum wage in two steps, going from $6.50 to $6.75 an hour this October, and up to $7 in October of 2007.
The House, in a 74 to 66 vote, amended the bill last week, cutting the proposed wage increase in half and delaying it until next October when it would have gone up to $6.75.
The Senate last Friday defeated that amendment 19 to 16 and sent it back to the House on Monday.
With Democratic senators lobbying in the back of House chambers, some Democratic representatives Monday switched their vote for the amendment and supported the original bill. It was close, however, with 72 voting in favor, 71 against and 8 legislators absent.
The debate ran for close to an hour, and included discussion on two amendments offered by Rep. John Eder of Portland, the only Green Party member of the Legislature. Eder wanted the base wage raised even higher than originally proposed and then wanted it to go up automatically with the consumer price index. His amendments were soundly defeated.
“While I certainly agree with the motive of the representative of Portland, this is about all we can do at this time,” said Rep. William Smith, D-Van Buren, the co-chairman of the Labor Committee. He called on House colleagues to defeat all amendments and support the original minimum wage proposal.
Smith said he’s been asked, “Who is it going to affect?” and he answered – the people on the bottom of the wage scale, who are often women and those working two or more jobs to make ends meet.
Rep. Sean Faircloth, D-Bangor, made the argument that states with higher minimum wages have fared better economically than those still at the federal minimum of $5.15 – an argument that was pounced on by opponents.
“Unless I’ve missed the mark,” said Rep. Stan Moody, D-Manchester, the Maine economy is not robust. “I encourage all of those who believe the state of Maine is booming to vote in favor.”
“The way to raise wages is to increase the demand for workers,” said Rep. Lawrence Jacobsen, R-Waterboro, a restaurant owner. “What we need to do is create jobs.” He compared Maine to New Hampshire, where the minimum wage is still at $5.15 and the average income is “$9,000 more than the state of Maine.”
The current federal minimum wage of $5.15 hasn’t been raised since 1997. The Maine Legislature raised the state’s minimum to $5.75 in 2002; to $6.25 in 2003; to $6.35 in 2004; and, then to $6.50 in 2005.
Rep. Janet Mills, R-Farmington, who proposed the amendment that would have delayed the wage hike, said the two-step increase to $7 would put Maine in the “top six states in the country.”
“I do not applaud the federal government,” she said, for failing to raise the wage for nearly 10 years, but the Maine economy can not support the increase.
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