Maine’s attempt to establish a so-called student wage has been rejected along nearly partisan lines in the State Legislature.
Under the proposed bill, students could have been paid at a rate half that of the current state minimum wage — or $7.33 an hour — for at least two years while they are in high school.
Once students graduate from high school — regardless of how long they have been employed — they would then be paid Maine’s standard minimum wage of $14.65 an hour.
LD 112 — An Act to Promote Opportunities by Establishing a Student Wage — was sponsored by Rep. Mathew David McIntyre (R-Lowell) and cosponsored by Sen. Dick Bradstreet (R-Kennebec) and Rep. David W. Boyer Jr. (R-Poland).
[RELATED: Student Minimum Wage Starting at $7.33 Per Hour Now on the Table in Maine]
According to data from the National Council of State Legislatures, Maine currently has one of the highest minimum wages in the country at $14.65 an hour.
Critics of minimum wage increases often note, among other things, the impact that higher minimum hourly rates have on business’ ability and willingness to hire younger and often less experienced workers for positions that are usually temporary or entry-level.
Given this — and the language used in the title of LD 112 — supporters of implementing a lower minimum wage for students would likely contend that such a policy would help increase students’ job opportunities.
A 2018 study from the IZA Journal of Labor Policy supports this belief, demonstrating that labor force participation rates are significantly higher among young people in countries with established youth minimum wages compared to those with a uniform minimum wage.
Opponents of a discounted minimum wage for full-time students, on the other hand, have argued that these lower rates “discriminate” against certain workers based solely on their age or “student status,” despite that they are often “performing the same work as adults.”
“Modern youth sub-minimum wages are a persistent relic of employers’ past and present interest in children as pool of exploitable, low-wage workers,” argued 2024 article from the Economic Policy Institute.
Paying a sub-minimum wage to full-time students is permitted by federal law, subject to certain limitations.
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows employers to hire full-time students, regardless of age, for an hourly wage up to 15 percent lower than the $7.25 federal minimum wage, or $6.16 per hour.
Beginning January 1, 2025, Maine’s minimum wage was increased to $14.65 per hour, meaning that if LD 112 were to be approved, employers would be able to hire high school students for as low as $7.33 per hour — $1.17 over the minimum student wage set by the federal government.
[RELATED: Maine’s Latest Minimum Wage Increase Takes Effect on Wednesday, January 1]
Following a public hearing and work session for this bill, lawmakers on the Labor Committee were divided over the proposal, with all Republican members supporting it and all Democratic members opposing it.
On Tuesday, House lawmakers rejected the bill in a nearly partisan roll call vote of 77-61, with four Republicans voting alongside Democrats to reject it.
Republicans opposing LD 112 included Reps. Nathan M. Carlow (R-Buxton), Ann Fredericks (R-Sanford), Tracy L. Quint (R-Hodgdon), and David C. Woodsome (R-Waterboro).
The Senate accepted the Committee’s majority Ought Not to Pass report without taking a roll call vote.
Consequently, LD 112 has now been placed in the legislative files and will not be considered any further this legislative session.
