Maine's Minimum Wage, 26 MRS §664

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Maine's Minimum Wage, 26 MRS §664
Updated through the 130th Legislature

Introduction

Maine enacted its minimum wage in 1959 (PL 1959, c. 362). The rate was $1.00 per hour. Originally codified as RS 1954, c. 30, §132-C, this statute is now located at 26 MRS §664. This legislative history includes legislation amending these statutes.

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Year	LD	Amendments	Final Disposition	Summary of Change to 26 MRS §664	Legislative Record Debate & Remarks	Other Documents & News Clips	Full LD History
1959	LD 92 AN ACT Establishing a Minimum Wage OTP-ND: LD 1337	Enacted with amendments: #319 #382 #338 #383 #379 #483 #380 #381	PL 1959, c. 362	$1.00/hr	Senate, April 30, 1959 p. 1259-1263 Senate, May 1, 1959 p. 1308-1313 House, May 5, 1959 p. 1369 House, May 6, 1959 p. 1443 House, May 6, 1959 p. 1445 House, May 7, 1959 p. 1476-1477 House, May 7, 1959 p. 1518-1524 House, May 8, 1959 p. 1548 House, May 11, 1959 p. 1576-1578 Senate, May 14, 1959 p. 1702-1714 House, May 15, 1959 p. 1758-1759 House, May 20, 1959 p. 1912-1925 Senate, May 21, 1959 p. 1927-1928 Senate, May 27, 1959 p. 2029 Senate, June 2, 1959 p. 2205-2206 Senate, June 4, 1959 p. 2298-2299 House, June 5, 1959 p. 2349-2350 House, June 9, 1959 p. 2421-2423	N/A	N/A
1961	LD 1135 AN ACT Revising Minimum Wage Law OTP-ND: LD 1537	Enacted with amendments: H-207 H-215	PL 1961, c.277, §6	Employers and employees subject to statutes	House, April 21, 1961 p. 1424-1425 House, April 25, 1961 p. 1446-1448 Senate, April 26, 1961 p. 1486-1489	N/A	N/A
1965	LD 1313 AN ACT Revising the Minimum Wage Law OTP-ND: LD 1504	Enacted with amendments: H-397 H-422 S-191	PL 1965, c. 410, §5	$1.15/hr for 1 year beginning Oct. 15, 1965 Thereafter $1.25/hr Employee exclusions and overtime provisions	Senate, May 5, 1965 p. 1780-1781 House, May 21, 1965 p. 2429 House, June 1, 1965 p. 2865-2870 Senate, June 2, 1965 p. 2936 House, June 2, 1965 p. 2966-2971 House, June 4, 1965 p. 3115-3116	N/A	N/A
1967	LD 38 AN ACT Increasing Minimum Wages	Enacted with amendments: H-284 S-68	PL 1967, c. 333	$1.40/hr for 1 year beginning Oct. 15, 1967 Thereafter $1.50/hr Also increased minimum wages for certain types of employees Added exceptions	Senate, April 11, 1967 p. 1119-1121 Senate, May 4, 1967 p. 1623-1634 House, May 5, 1967 p. 1644-1646 House, May 16, 1967 p. 2020-2027	N/A	N/A
1967	LD 172 AN ACT Revising the Minimum Wage Law	Enacted with amendment: S-127	PL 1967, c. 466, §5	Employee tips	Senate, May 12, 1967 p. 1946-1948	N/A	N/A
1969	LD 893 An Act to Exempt Seamen from the Payment of Overtime Wages	N/A	PL 1969, c. 184, §6	Overtime provisions shall not apply to seamen	Senate, March 28, 1969 p. 869	N/A	N/A
1969	LD 1106 An Act Revising the Minimum Wage Law OTP-ND: LD 1487	Enacted with amendment: S-181	PL 1969, c. 356	$1.60/hr beginning Oct. 15, 1969	House, May 13, 1969 p. 2009-2011 Senate, May 22, 1969 p. 2435 House, May 26, 1969 p. 2521-2522	N/A	N/A
1969	LD 1248 AN ACT to Correct Errors and Inconsistencies in the Public Laws	Enacted with amendments: H-593 S-335 H-594 S-342 H-611 S-343 S-317 S-350 S-332	PL 1969, c. 504, §43	Corrected a misspelling	Senate, June 24, 1969 p. 4211-4212 Senate, June 25, 1969 p. 4300 Senate, June 27, 1969 p. 4442-4443 Senate, June 28, 1969 p. 4485-4486 House, June 30, 1969 p. 4494-4501 House, June 30, 1969 p. 4502 House, June 30, 1969 p. 4504-4506 Senate, June 30, 1969 p. 4516-4519 Senate, June 30, 1969 p. 4531-4532 House, July 1, 1969 p. 4560-4561	N/A	N/A
1970	LD 1779 AN ACT to Correct Errors and Inconsistencies in the Public Laws	Enacted with amendments: Committee Amendment "A" (LD 1846) H-711 H-714	PL 1969, c. 590	Added "seamen" to the last sentence of the first paragraph	House, February 6, 1970 p. 911 House, February 6, 1970 p. 942 House, February 6, 1970 p. 944-947 Senate, February 6, 1970 p. 991-993 House, February 7, 1970 p. 1007-1008	N/A	N/A
1971	LD 44 AN ACT Increasing Minimum Wages	Enacted with amendment: H-289	PL 1971, c. 415	$1.80/hr Minimum wage will be the same as the federal law when the federal minimum wage is in the range of $1.80 to $2 per hour	Senate, April 6, 1971 p. 1245 Senate, April 7, 1971 p. 1298-1302 Senate, April 7, 1971 p. 1310 Senate, April 15, 1971 p. 1544-1546 Senate, April 21, 1971 p. 1710-1712 House, April 22, 1971 p. 1727-1735 House, April 28, 1971 p. 1912-1919 Senate, May 6, 1971 p. 2340-2347 House, May 7, 1971 p. 2349-2356 House, May 11, 1971 p. 2459 House, May 14, 1971 p. 2666 House, May 18, 1971 p. 2751-2753 House, May 19, 1971 p. 2803 House, May 24, 1971 p. 3064-3065 Senate, May 26, 1971 p. 3237-3238 Senate, June 9, 1971 p. 3842	News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	N/A
1971	LD 92 AN ACT Relating to When Overtime Pay Commences for Employees	Enacted with amendment: S-12	PL 1971, c. 78	Makes the Maine law on overtime apply at the same time as the Federal law	No debate.	N/A	N/A
1972	LD 2004 AN ACT to Correct Errors and Inconsistencies in the Public Laws	Enacted with amendments: S-391 S-396	PL 1971, c. 622, §88	Changes "48 hours" to "40 hours" overtime and effective date	House, March 9, 1972 p. 998-1000 House, March 10, 1972 p. 1043-1044	News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	N/A
1972	LD 2058 AN ACT Implementing the Reorganization of the Department of Manpower Affairs	N/A	PL 1971, c. 620, §13	Changes each occurrence of "Commissioner" to "Director"	House, March 8, 1972 p. 923-927 House, March 9, 1972 p. 957-967	News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	N/A
1973	LD 112 AN ACT Increasing Minimum Wages	Enacted with amendments: H-318 S-159	PL 1973, c. 467	$1.90/hr	House, May 8, 1973 p. 2435-2446 Senate, June 5, 1973 p. 3814	News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	N/A
1973	LD 911 AN ACT Relating to Minimum Wages	Enacted with amendment: H-385	PL 1973, c. 420	Changes minimum wage cap to $3.00/hr	No debate.	N/A	N/A
1973	LD 1883 AN ACT to Correct Errors and Inconsistencies in the Public Laws OTP-ND: LD 2044	Enacted with amendments: H-617 S-267 S-256 S-270 S-258 S-280 S-261 S-262	PL 1973, c. 625, §171	Repeals and replaces the first sentence to consolidate the effects of PL 1973, c. 420 and PL 1973, c. 467	House, June 22, 1973 p. 4737-4738 Senate, June 25, 1973 p. 4778-4779 Senate, June 25, 1973 p. 4781-4783 Senate, June 25, 1973 p. 4785-4786 Senate, June 26, 1973 p. 4839 Senate, June 28, 1973 p. 4943-4944 House, July 2, 1973 p. 4984-4985 House, July 2, 1973 p. 4987-4988 House, July 3, 1973 p. 5045-5046	News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	N/A
1974	LD 2321 AN ACT to Increase the Minimum Wage	Enacted with amendment: H-745	PL 1973, c. 752	$2.00/hr	House, March 11, 1974 p. 1410-1422 House, March 12, 1974 p. 1461 Senate, March 13, 1974 p. 1564-1568 House, March 14, 1974 p. 1627-1628 House, March 14, 1974 p. 1634-1635 Senate, March 14, 1974 p. 1656-1659 House, March 15, 1974 p. 1696-1697 Senate, March 18, 1974 p. 1765-1766 House, March 19, 1974 p. 1787-1791 Senate, March 21, 1974 p. 2046	News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	N/A
1975	LD 173 AN ACT to Increase the Minimum Wage to $2.50 an Hour OTP-ND: LD 1834	N/A	PL 1975, c. 352	$2.30/hr	House, April 22, 1975 p. B633-B638 House, April 23, 1975 p. B649 Senate, April 28, 1975 p. B729-B735 Senate, April 29, 1975 p. B760-B763 House, May 7, 1975 p. B885 Senate, May 8, 1975 p. B923 House, May 14, 1975 p. B1017-B1021 Senate, May 16, 1975 p. B1095 Senate, May 16, 1975 p. B1095-B1096 House, May 19, 1975 p. B1104 Senate, May 22, 1975 p. B1270	News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	N/A
1975	LD 422 AN ACT to Extend Standard Coverage under the Minimum Wage Statutes to Employees of Nursing Homes and Hospitals	N/A	PL 1975, c. 23	Allows nursing home and hospital employees to be covered by the standard minimum wage	No debate.	N/A	N/A
1979	LD 43 AN ACT to Increase the Minimum Wage to $4 Per Hour	Enacted with amendment: S-29	PL 1979, c. 54	$2.90/hr Changes the minimum wage cap to $4.00/hr	House, March 6, 1979 p. 303-304 Senate, March 8, 1979 p. 342-343 Senate, March 9, 1979 p. 356-358 House, March 14, 1979 p. 399-403 Senate, March 15, 1979 p. 417-418 House, March 22, 1979 p. 487	N/A	N/A
1979	LD 552 An Act to Require that All Public Employees be Paid at Least the Federal Minimum Wage	Enacted with amendments: H-238 H-258 S-329	PL 1979, c. 516, §3	Overtime provision does not apply to public employees	No debate.	N/A	N/A
1984	LD 2236 AN ACT to Increase the Minimum Wage to $3.55	Enacted with amendments: H-734 S-410	PL 1983, c. 857	$3.45/hr	Senate, March 13, 1984 p. 238-239 House, March 29, 1984 p. 401-403 Senate, March 30, 1984 p. 450-451 House, April 3, 1984 p. 459-462 House, April 10, 1984 p. 561-566 House, April 11, 1984 p. 605-610 House, April 13, 1984 p. 694-695 House, April 13, 1984 p. 696-699 Senate, April 13, 1984 p. 705 House, April 24, 1984 p. 711-713	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1985	LD 121 An Act Concerning Salary Provisions for Automotive Industry Personnel	Enacted with amendment: S-22	PL 1985, c. 76, §2	Exempts automobile mechanics and salesmen from the overtime pay provisions	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1986	LD 1939 An Act to Equalize the State Tipping Minimum Wage and the Federal Tipping Minimum Wage	Enacted with amendment: H-531	PL 1985, c. 576	Reduces tipping credit under state law to $1.54 in 1986, and then increases it to $1.64 thereafter	House, February 25, 1986 p. 388	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1988	LD 1948 AN ACT to Increase the Minimum Wage OTP-ND: LD 2582	N/A	PL 1987, c. 738	Increases minimum wage to $3.75/hr effective Jan. 1, 1989 Increases minimum wage to $3.85/hr effective Jan. 1, 1990	House, March 29, 1988 p. 630-632	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1991	LD 905 An Act to Increase Penalties for Child Labor Law Violations	Enacted with amendments: H-593 S-347	PL 1991, c. 544, §1	Increases the student minimum wage from 75% to 85% of the minimum wage	House, June 10, 1991 p. H-1068-H-1069 Senate, June 12, 1991 p. S-1249-S-1254 House, June 26, 1991 p. H-1279-H-1281	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1991	LD 1329 An Act Concerning Salary Provisions for Automotive Industry Personnel	Enacted with amendment: S-354	PL 1991, c. 507, §2	Provides that the overtime provisions of the state minimum wage law are not applicable to automobile parts clerks who are employed by businesses selling vehicles to the ultimate purchaser and who are not paid on an hourly basis	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1993	LD 1108 An Act to Amend the Child Labor Laws	Enacted with amendments: H-484 S-366	PL 1993, c. 434, §§1, 8	Repeals the provision of law that allowed employers to pay students under 19 years 85% of the minimum wage	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1993	LD 1335 An Act to Bring the State Tipping Wage up to the Federal Tipping Wage	Enacted with amendment: S-332	PL 1993, c. 233	Brings the wage for tipped employees to 50% of the state minimum wage	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1995	LD 143 An Act to Increase the Minimum Wage in Maine	Enacted with amendment: H-67	PL 1995, c. 305	Increases the minimum wage cap from $5.00/hr to $5.15/hr	House, May 10, 1995 p. H-609-H-616 Senate, May 23, 1995 p. S-837-S-843 House, June 1, 1995 p. H-827 House, June7, 1995 p. H-885-H-888 House, June 16, 1995 p. H-1090-H-1092	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1996	LD 1606 An Act to Amend the Overtime Laws as They Pertain to Bonuses	N/A	PL 1995, c. 510	Clarifies that the calculation of overtime pay under Maine law is identical to the calculation of overtime pay under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
1997	LD 347 An Act to Require Overtime Pay for Employees of Large Agricultural Employers	Enacted with amendment: H-155	PL 1997, c. 136	Requires the payment of overtime pay for individuals employed at an egg processing facility with more than 300,000 laying birds	House, April 7, 1997 p. H-405 House, April 8, 1997 p. H-418-H-420 Senate, April 10, 1997 p. S-510-S-513 House, April 17, 1997 p. H-524-H-530	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2001	LD 544 An Act to Eliminate Unnecessary Paperwork for Wage-hour Compliance	Enacted with amendment: H-114	PL 2001, c. 336	Requires the Department of Labor to follow federal interpretation of comparable terms when determining whether automobile mechanics, parts clerks and salesmen are exempt from the state law requiring payment of time-and-a-half for overtime hours	House, April 25, 2001 p. H-486-H-487 House, May 2, 2001 p. H-580-H-582 House, May 14, 2001 p. H-771-H-772	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2001	LD 1591 An Act to Raise the Minimum Wage, to Expand the Tax Credit for Health Benefits Paid by a Small Business and to Increase the Earned Income Credit	Enacted with amendment: S-63	PL 2001, c. 297	$5.15/hr beginning Jan. 1, 2002 $6.25/hr beginning Jan. 1, 2003 Retains language in current law providing that the state minimum wage increases to conform to any increases in the federal minimum wage, up to a maximum of $1.00 per hour above the specified state minimum	House, May 4, 2001 p. H-620-H-623	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2002	LD 2108 An Act to Coordinate the Maine Overtime Pay Provisions with the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act Regarding Exceptions for Businesses Involved in the Transportation of Persons or Goods	Enacted with amendment: H-999	PL 2001, c. 628	Overtime provisions related to truck drivers and driver's helpers	House, March 26, 2002 p. H-1958	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2003	LD 1619 An Act To Provide Equitable Treatment to State Employees	Enacted with amendment: H-531	PL 2003, c. 423, §§1, 2	Includes state employees, except for legislative employees, in the law requiring employers to pay time-and-a-half for overtime hours worked Compensatory time may in some instances be substituted for overtime pay, when allowed by federal law	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2004	LD 673 An Act To Increase Maine's Minimum Wage	Enacted with amendments: S-359 S-491 S-563	PL 2003, c. 697	$6.35/hr beginning Oct. 1, 2004 $6.50/hr beginning Oct. 1, 2005	Senate, March 11, 2004 p. S-1370-H-1372 House, March 29, 2004 p. H-1459-H-1466 Senate, April 7, 2004 p. S-1550-S-1554 House, April 7, 2004 p. H-1553-H-1555 Senate, April 29, 2004 p. S-1726-S-1727	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2006	LD 235 An Act To Increase the Minimum Wage	Enacted with amendment: H-725	PL 2005, c. 578	$6.75/hr beginning Oct. 1, 2006 $7.00/hr beginning Oct. 1, 2007	House, February 8, 2006 p. H-1203-H-1213 Senate, March 7, 2006 p. S-1551-S-1558 Senate, March 27, 2006 p. S-1671-S-1672 House, April 5, 2006 p. H-1465-H-1466 House, April 10, 2006 p. H-1513-H-1521	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2007	LD 1295 An Act To Amend the Labor Laws Regarding Automobile Dealerships	Enacted with amendment: H-476	PL 2007, c. 360, §5	Amends the wage and hour overtime laws in relation to automobile dealership employees primarily engaged in financing and insurance assistance and individuals employed as automobile service writers at automobile dealerships	House, June 11, 2007 p. H-738-H-740	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2007	LD 1543 An Act To Clarify the Use of Tips in Payment of Service Employees	Enacted with amendment: H-370	PL 2007, c. 367, §2	Clarifies that tips belong to the employee providing direct service and that the entire tip must go to the employee by the next regular payday Allows the pooling of tips in limited circumstances	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2008	LD 1697 An Act To Ensure Fair Wages	Enacted with amendments: S-452 S-570 S-587 S-628	PL 2007, c. 640, §§4, 5, 6	$7.25/hr beginning Oct. 1, 2008 $7.50/hr beginning Oct. 1, 2009 Removes the exemption of domestic service providers, public and educational non-profit employees, and those working in hotels, motels, restaurants, and other eating establishments from the State minimum wage and overtime laws	Senate, April 7, 2008 p. S-1840-S-1841 House, April 11, 2008 p. H-1567-H-1568 Senate, April 11, 2008 p. S-1953-S-1960 Senate, April 15, 2008 p. S-1999-S-2000 Senate, April 15, 2008 p. S-2003-S-2004	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2011	LD 207 An Act To Amend the Laws Regarding Tips Used in Payment of Service Employees	Enacted with amendment: S-58	PL 2011, c. 118, §§3, 4	Tips, tip pooling, and service charges	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2011	LD 1685 An Act To Conform Maine Law to Federal Law Regarding Payment of Overtime to Truck Drivers and Driver's Helpers	Enacted with amendments: H-732 H-744	PL 2011, c. 681	Overtime rate for truck drivers and driver's helpers	House, March 6, 2012 p. H-1211	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2015	LD 1661, IB 4 An Act To Raise the Minimum Wage	N/A	IB 2015, c. 2 Approved at Nov. 8, 2016 referendum Yes: 420,892 No: 337,486	$9.00/hr beginning Jan. 1, 2017 $5.00/hr for tipped employees beginning on Jan. 1, 2017 $10.00/hr beginning Jan. 1, 2018 $11.00/hr beginning Jan. 1, 2019 $12.00/hr beginning Jan. 1, 2020 Beginning Jan. 1, 2021, the minimum wage will increase by the cost of living as measured by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers for the Northeast Region Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, $1.00/hr per year increase for tipped employees until it reaches the same amount as the regular minimum wage	House, March 17, 2016 p. H-1391-H-1397	News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2017	LD 673 An Act To Restore the Tip Credit to Maine's Minimum Wage Law	Enacted with amendments: S-209 H-518	PL 2017, c. 272	Eliminates the scheduled increases in the minimum wage applicable to service employees and starting January 1, 2018, establishes the tip credit in the minimum wage laws at 50% of the general minimum hourly wage Clarifies other provisions related to the tip credit	Senate, June 7, 2017 p. S-936-S-944 House, June 13, 2017 p. H-876-H-885 Senate, June 15, 2017 p. S-1101	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian. News Clips: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2017	LD 1575 An Act To Update the Statutes Governing the Bureau of Labor Standards To Promote Clarity for Workers and Employers	Enacted with amendment: S-252	PL 2019, c. 219, §§15, 20	Clarifies that the exemption in the overtime wage laws regarding work involving agricultural produce, meat and fish products, and perishable foods applies to work distributing such products and applies this change retroactivity to pending cases, except for cases pending on March 12, 2017	No debate.	Court Opinion: O'Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy, 851 F.3d 69 (1st Cir. 2017) Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2019	LD 81 An Act To Clarify Maine Law Regarding the Tips of Service Employees	N/A	PL 2019, c. 10	Tip pooling	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes
2019	LD 1828 An Act To Amend the Laws Governing Overtime	Enacted with amendment: S-292	PL 2019, c. 387	Adds to the list of exempted employees from state overtime pay requirements those state employees in the executive branch and the judicial branch engaged in fire protection activities and in law enforcement activities	No debate.	Committee File: Please contact a Reference Librarian.	Yes