Question 4, a citizen initiative passed by Maine voters in 2016, increased the minimum wage in Maine from $7.50/hour in 2016 to $9/hour in 2017, then $1 per hour more each year until it hits $12/hour in 2020. After that, the minimum wage will increase automatically with inflation. It will also raise the direct wage for service workers who receive tips from half the minimum wage from $3.75/hour to $5/hour in 2017, with annual $1 increases until it reaches the general minimum wage. Republicans, including Governor LePage, unsuccessfully offered competing proposals featuring more modest increases in the minimum wage, but…
Author: Ernest Copley
Ernest Copley
Ernest L. Copley III is a community college business instructor and a financial planner. The views expressed her are entirely his own and do not reflect those of York County Community College, or of the Maine Community College System.
Hi, I’m Ernie Copley. I’m a college business teacher and a financial planner in Maine. Recently, I read a position paper on Question 2 by a Ms. Sarah Austin. Ms. Austin works for a left-wing think tank, the Maine Center for Economic Policy (“MECEP”). Her position paper is based on dubious assumptions and a near-total ignorance of how investors manage their money. First, let’s look at the world through the eyes of one of the intended targets of the proposed tax. We’ll call this hypothetical fellow Walter Wealthy. The underlying assumption behind Ms. Austin’s analysis of Question 2 is that…