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Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Slow the Rate at Which the State's Minimum Wage Increases’
Amend the bill in section 1 by striking out all of subsection 1 (page 1, lines 4 to 21 in L.D.) 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.’
 
SUMMARY
This amendment starts the State's minimum wage of $10.50 per hour on January 1, 2019, instead of on January 1, 2020 as proposed by the bill. In addition, this amendment increases the minimum wage 50¢ per hour each year until it reaches $12.00 per hour on January 1, 2022, instead of on January 1, 2023 as proposed by the bill. Finally, this amendment restores the requirement that was eliminated in the bill that the minimum wage increase each year by the percentage increase in the cost of living.
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED
(See attached)