A bill making its way through the state house is drawing praise by Maine's many workers making minimum wage.
Paul Nickerson Lewiston: "Minimum wage needs to be raised because you cannot just simply afford to live on minimum wage."
LD-611, sponsored by representative Scott Hamann of South Portland, would raise Maine's minimum wage by a dollar from $7.50 to $8.50 an hour and if the cost of living goes up, so would the pay. Supporters rallied around the idea today at the state house.
Scott Hamann (D), South Portland: "Maine's minimum wage hasn't been adjusted since 2009. So, as the economy begins recovery, now is the time."
Hamann says he believes that a hard day’s work should be rewarded with a check that matches it.
Scott Hamann: "Someone who is willing to work full time should be able to pay their bills. These are workers - workers who know that getting up each day to go to work means that they are guaranteed a paycheck that will still keep them below the poverty threshold. But, these workers get up and got to work anyway."
The bill is drawing criticism from house republicans who say by increasing the amount of the minimum wage it's only going to increase the demand for entry level positions...making it harder altogether to get a job.
Alexander Willette, asst. house republican leader: "We're in a recession, let’s keep trying to build on what we have and not throw up any more barriers. Minimum wage jobs were never meant to live on your entire life...these are mostly entry level jobs for high schools. Raising the minimum wage will really hurt those folks the most."
But for supporters of the bill, they say what really hurts is the inability to make ends meet on their salary, they're hoping that will change soon. After the rally, the bill headed to public hearings for further review.
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