Voters in Portland will be asked this November if they would like to see the city’s minimum wage increase to $19 an hour over the course of the next three years.
Late last month, the Portland City Council narrowly voted to place a question on the ballot that would raise the minimum wage to $16.75 an hour in 2026, $17.75 in 2027, and then $19 an hour in 2028.
At that point, the minimum wage would continue to increase in conjunction with the cost of living in the same manner that it does now.
Mayor Mark Dion voted against this proposal on the grounds that minimum wage should be handled by the state in order ensure that businesses are competing on a level playing field.
Currently, Maine’s minimum wage is $14.65 per hour. As of this year, Portland’s minimum wage is $15.50 an hour.
[RELATED: Maine’s Latest Minimum Wage Increase Takes Effect on Wednesday, January 1]
Although the proposal considered by the Council originally would have raised Portland’s minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2029, this increase was removed in the final version.
Portland’s current minimum wage has already been indexed to inflation, but some argued before the Council that the base rate is insufficient to sustain the cost of living.
Others representing local business have highlighted concerns over the impact that rapidly increasing the cost of labor would have on employers’ ability to keep their doors open.
In 2020, Portland voters approved a referendum increasing the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024. This policy, which took effect in 2021, cannot be amended for five years except by another referendum.
[RELATED: Minimum Wage Hike, Tip Credit Elimination Will Not Appear on the Ballot in Portland]
Around this same time last year, the Portland City Council rejected a nearly identical proposal that would have raised the minimum wage to $20 per hour by 2028.
At the time, this would have increased the City’s minimum wage by about 33 percent. The proposal that will be on the ballot this year represents a 22.5 percent hike.
This referendum will appear on Portland voters’ ballots this November alongside two statewide referendum questions: one pertaining to voter ID and other election laws, the other focused on bringing “red flag” style gun control to Maine.
Click Here to Read the Maine Wire’s Breakdown of These Referendum Questions
