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Do you support an increase to Maine’s minimum wage?

Increasing the state’s minimum wage is among the proposals being considered by the Maine Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee.

That proposal would increase the hourly minimum wage from its current level, $13.80, to $15 at the start of 2024. The minimum would then increase by at least $1 a year through 2033, after which the increases would be tied to hikes in the cost of living.

Rep. Benjamin Collings, D-Portland, has introduced the bill, cosponsored by Rep. Valli Geiger, D-Rockland.

The Legislature first set the state’s minimum wage at $1 an hour in 1959. Over time, that amount periodically and gradually increased to $7.50 in 2008. In 2016, 55% of the state’s voters approved a larger boost through a series of yearly increases.

But what do you think? Do you support an increase to Maine’s minimum wage? Tell us in the poll and in the comments below.