AUGUSTA, Maine - A Maine group is launching a bid to put a proposal to raise the minimum wage on the ballot next year.
Mainers for Fair Wages says it will begin collecting more than 60,000 signatures needed to force a referendum in November 2016.
It wants to raise the wage from $7.50 an hour to $9 an hour in 2017. It would then go up a dollar a year until it hits $12 in 2020; from then on, adjustments would be made based on the cost of living.
Jim Wellehan, who owns Lamey-Wellehan Shoes and supports the effort, said Thursday that he believes raising the wage will help local small businesses that already pay high salaries compete with out-of-state corporations.
