Maine House Democrats again rebuff GOP efforts to alter minimum wage law

Democrats in the Maine House of Representatives effectively killed a handful of Republican-backed bills on Thursday that were designed to slow the state’s voter-approved minimum wage hikes or offset its impact on employers.

After Republicans advocated in floor speeches for four bills that they say would provide relief to small business owners or make it possible for them to hire and train young workers, the House voted mostly along party lines to uphold legislative committee recommendations that those bills “ought not to pass.”

With their solid majority, House Democrats made relatively quick work of the latest Republican efforts to stymie incremental minimum wage increases approved by voters in late 2016.

A year later, lawmakers and Republican Gov. Paul LePage moved to repeal a portion of that law and restore the state’s tip credit. Under that portion of the law, tipped workers are paid an hourly wage that’s half of the minimum wage, based on the expectation the tips they receive will exceed their overall earnings to more than the state’s hourly minimum.

Read more: https://bangordailynews.com/2019/04/11/politics/maine-house-democrats-again-rebuff-gop-efforts-to-alter-minimum-wage-law/