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An Act To Balance Maine's Minimum Wage for Small and Large Employers
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 26 MRSA §664, sub-§1, as amended by IB 2015, c. 2, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
 
1.  Minimum wage for small and large employers.     The minimum hourly wage is as established in this subsection.
 
A.  For an employer that employs at least 50 full-time employees in this State:
 
(1) Starting January 1, 2019, the minimum hourly wage is $11.00 per hour; and
 
(2) Starting January 1, 2021, the minimum hourly wage is $12.00 per hour.
 
B.  For an employer that employs fewer than 50 full-time employees in this State, starting October 1, 2019, the minimum hourly wage is $10.00 per hour.
Sec. 2.  26 MRSA §664, sub-§1-A  is enacted to read:
 
1-A.  Indexing of minimum wage for cost of living.     On January 1, 2022 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.
Sec. 3. Effective date. This Act takes effect October 1, 2019.
 
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a minimum hourly wage for small employers that is less than the minimum hourly wage for large employers. Beginning October 1, 2019, for an employer with fewer than 50 full-time employees in Maine, the minimum hourly wage is established at $10; the minimum hourly wage for an employer of at least 50 full-time employees in Maine remains at $11 until January 1, 2021, when it increases to $12. This bill also delays the indexing of the minimum hourly wage for cost-of-living adjustments by one year until 2022.