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Portland, Maine, Minimum Wage Increase Initiative, Question 1 (November 2015)
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An initiative to raise the city's minimum wage was on the ballot for Portland voters in Cumberland County, Maine, on November 3, 2015. It was defeated.
If approved, Question 1 would have raised the city's standard minimum wage for workers at large businesses to $15 per hour by 2017 and boosted the minimum pay for all private employees in the city to $15 per hour by 2019. Workers that also receive tips would have received a minimum base-wage of at least $11.25 per hour by 2019 according to the initiative. To comply with certain restrictions on the initiative power, this initiative was designed with an exception for employees of the city government. This exception could have been removed at any time by the city council. Besides this change, election law would have prevented the city council from modifying this initiative for five years if it had been approved.[1]
Election results
| Portland, Question 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 No | 10,993 | 58.11% | ||
| Yes | 7,923 | 41.89% | ||
- Election results from Bangor Daily News
Wages and timetables
Specifically, the initiative was designed to require the following wage increases based on the size of the business in question.[2]
For employees of businesses with 500 workers or more, the initiative was designed to increase wages to:[2]
- $12 per hour on July 1, 2016
- $15 per hour on July 1, 2017, with the wage tied to the Consumer Price Index going forward
For employees of businesses with fewer than 500 workers, the initiative was designed to give the following wage increases:[2]
- $10 per hour on July 1, 2016
- $12 per hour by July 1, 2017
- $13.50 per hour on July 1, 2018
- $15 on July 1, 2019, with the wage tied to the Consumer Price Index going forward
According to the initiative, the minimum base-pay for tipped workers would have been $3.75 per hour less than the standard minimum wage.[3]
As of the beginning of 2015, Maine's statewide minimum wage was $7.50 per hour.
The proposed initiative would not have affected the wages of city employees since the city's charter prohibits citizen initiatives from applying to employees of the municipality. The city council could have removed this exception at any time.[3]
Text of measure
Ballot question
The following question appeared on the ballot:[4]
| “ |
Do you favor the change in the City Ordinance(s) proposed by citizen petition as provided below? An Ordinance relating to employment in Portland; adding a new Chapter; Chapter 22: Wages, to the City of Portland Code of Ordinances; establishing minimum wages and minimum compensation rates for employees performing work in Portland?[5] |
” |
Ballot summary
The following summary of Question 1 appeared on the ballot:[4]
| “ |
This ordinance will ensure that all workers in Portland will earn at least $15 per hour by 2019. Employers having 500 employees or fewer will transition over four years. Employers having more than 500 employees will transition by 2017. The applicable tip credit allowed by the State is not changed, meaning that tipped workers must be paid at least $11.25 per hour plus tips, but not totaling less than the normal $15 per hour minimum wage. After 2019, the minimum wage will be adjusted every year to keep pace with inflation. The minimum wage will be enforced by the Portland City Manager and/or designees of the city manager. An exemption is included stating that City employees are not protected by this minimum wage, but this exemption may be removed by the City at any time.[5] |
” |
Background
City council's minimum wage ordinance
On July 6, 2015, the city council voted 6-3 to approve its own minimum wage increase. The council's measure was designed to increase the city's minimum wage to $10.10 per hour on January 1, 2016, with a second hike to $10.68 per hour scheduled for 2017. Beginning in July 2018, the city's ordinance was designed to annually adjust the city's minimum wage according to Consumer Price Index changes.[2][6][7]
After the city's ordinance was approved, city officials discovered that the bill failed to make an exception for tipped workers and, therefore, doubled the minimum hourly base-wage required for tipped workers. This outcome of the ordinance was, apparently, not intended by the city council. During a meeting on July 20, 2015, the council considered amendments to its ordinance to eliminate this change. The council scheduled a meeting in September 2015 to have a final vote on proposed fixes for the ordinance.[8]
MIT living wage study
According to a study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the following table represents a living wage for residents of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford area as of the beginning of 2015, with comparisons to what would be a poverty wage and the state-set minimum wage:[9]
For more details about the methodology behind this study, click here.
Support
Supporters
A group called Portlanders for a Living Wage backed this initiative.[10]
The Maine Green Party formed the Portland Green Independent Committee to support this initiative and campaign for its approval.[1]
Arguments in favor
Supporters argued that the minimum wage had been increasing at a much slower rate than the cost of living, leaving many low-wage workers and their children in poverty. Proponents also argued that a higher minimum wage would boost the economy by giving more people significant buying power. They claimed the higher profits for businesses caused by this would offset higher staffing costs, avoiding any harm to the economy.[1]
Tom MacMillan, chair of the proponent committee, said, "Many workers have not gotten a significant raise in many many years. It's pushing working people out of the city and it's causing poverty among our children."[1]
Responding to critics who claimed the wage would hurt businesses and dampen the economy, MacMillan said, "The city of Seattle's $15-an-hour initiative is due to go into effect on April 1st, and all of the reports we've heard from there are that restaurant owners are expanding, they're not cutting jobs. And we expect the same thing to happen here in Portland because more money will be put into the hands of people who work for a living."[1]
Opposition
Opponents
Mayor Michael Brennan said the $15 per hour proposal would ultimately be harmful to businesses, especially small businesses.[6]
The Maine Restaurant and Innkeepers Association opposed this initiative.[8]
Arguments against
Opponents of the initiative argued it would force businesses, especially small businesses, to lay off workers and increase prices. Critics also claimed the measure would put Portland at a competitive disadvantage in the job market compared to the surrounding cities and unincorporated areas. Some supported a more modest minimum wage increase instead. Mayor Brennan drafted such a proposal and said that his ordinance "doesn’t make Portland an economic outlier,” implying the Green Party's initiative would.[6]
Greg Dugal, executive director of the Maine Restaurant and Innkeepers Association, said the initiative would create a higher minimum wage in Portland than in any other area east of the Mississippi River, resulting in a significant job-market disadvantage. Stating that the average profit margin for a restaurant is about 4 percent, Dugal said, “Our hope is that the citizens of Portland see this as an unreasonable and irresponsible burden on Portland businesses resulting in the opposite effect for hospitality and other workers with severely reduced employment levels.”[8]
Campaign finance
A committee called "Too Far, Too Fast" was created to campaign in opposition to Question 1. The group raised over $120,000 for its war chest. The Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce donated $50,000 to help defeat the minimum wage initiative. Supporters raised a little over $5,000 to campaign in support of Question 1. Tom MacMillan, who helped organize the initiative campaign and also ran for mayor, said, “We were outspent 100-to-1. Usually, big money wins.”[11]
Path to the ballot
On March 26, 2015, members of the Portland Green Independent Committee submitted the required application to circulate the minimum wage increase initiative, including an affidavit and the final draft of the proposed ordinance. The city clerk sent the proponents the official signature petition forms in the first week of April, giving the initiative proponents 80 days to collect the approximately 1,500 valid signatures required for a sufficient signature petition. Petitioners turned in well over the required number of signatures, and, on July 6, 2015, the city council was faced with the decision to either approve the initiative directly or put it before voters. The city council chose to put the initiative on the ballot.[1][2][8]
Related measures
2015 local measures
- City of El Paso Fire Department Wage Raise Policy Charter Amendment, Proposition 2 (May 2015)
- City of Tacoma $12 per Hour Minimum Wage Alternative Measure, Initiative No. 1B (November 2015)
- City of Tacoma $15 per Hour Minimum Wage Measure, Initiative No. 1 (November 2015)
- Kansas City, Missouri, $15 per hour Minimum Wage Initiative Measure (November 2015)
- Kansas City, Missouri, Minimum Wage Increase Veto Referendum (November 2015)
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Portland Maine minimum wage initiative. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Local wages and pay on the ballot
- Cumberland County, Maine ballot measures
- November 3, 2015 ballot measures in Maine
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 MPBN News, "Maine Green Party Launches Portland Minimum Wage Hike Initiative," March 26, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Portland Press Herald, "Portland Green party takes step toward minimum-wage referendum," March 26, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Forecaster, "Portland Greens to start petition drive for minimum wage," March 31, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Portland, Maine, City Government, "Sample ballot for election on November 3, 2015," accessed October 15, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Portland Press Herald, "Minimum-wage initiatives worry Portland businesses," April 16, 2015
- ↑ Portland Press Herald, "Portland City Council votes to raise minimum wage to $10.10 an hour," July 7, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Portland Press Herald, "Portland voters will take up $15 an hour minimum wage in November," July 21, 2015
- ↑ Massachusetts Institute of Technology, "Living Wage Calculator," accessed August 4, 2015
- ↑ Facebook: Portlanders for a Living Wage, "News Feed," accessed August 4, 2015
- ↑ Portland Press Herald, "Portland businesses cheer voters’ rejection of $15 minimum wage," November 3, 2015
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