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Amend the amendment by striking out the substitute title and replacing it with the following:
‘An Act To Protect Maine's Economy by Slowing the Rate at Which the State's Minimum Wage Will Increase’
Amend the amendment by inserting after the substitute title the following:
‘
Amend the bill by striking out all of the emergency preamble.
’
Amend the amendment in section 1 by striking out all of subsection 1 (page 1, lines 19 to 36 in amendment) and inserting the following:
 
‘1. Minimum wage.   The minimum hourly wage is $7.50 per hour. Starting January 1, 2017, the minimum hourly wage is $9.00 per hour; starting January 1, 2018, the minimum hourly wage is $10.00 per hour; starting. Starting January 1, 2019, the minimum hourly wage is $11.00$10.50 per hour; and starting January 1, 2020, the minimum hourly wage is $12.00$11.00 per hour; starting January 1, 2021, the minimum hourly wage is $11.50 per hour; and starting January 1, 2022, the minimum hourly wage is $12.00 per hour. On January 1, 20212023 and each January 1st thereafter, the minimum hourly wage then in effect must be increased by the increase, if any, in the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living must be measured by the percentage increase, if any, as of August of the previous year over the level as of August of the year preceding that year in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, CPI-W, for the Northeast Region, or its successor index, as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics or its successor agency, with the amount of the minimum wage increase rounded to the nearest multiple of 5¢. If the highest federal minimum wage is increased in excess of the minimum wage in effect under this section, the minimum wage under this section is increased to the same amount, effective on the same date as the increase in the federal minimum wage, and must be increased in accordance with this section thereafter.’
Amend the amendment by striking out all of section 2.
Amend the amendment by adding before the summary the following:
‘
Amend the bill by striking out all of the emergency clause.
’
 
SUMMARY
This amendment changes the timing for minimum wage increases by starting with $10.50 per hour on January 1, 2019 and increasing it by 50¢ per hour each year until it reaches $12.00 per hour on January 1, 2022. Starting January 1, 2023 and annually thereafter the minimum wage is increased by any increase in the cost of living as measured by the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, CPI-W. The amendment also strikes from Committee Amendment "A" the provisions that establish a special minimum wage applicable to unemancipated minors under 18 years of age for the first 200 work hours of employment. The amendment also removes the emergency preamble and emergency clause.