Portland Is Raising It’s Minimum Wage Next Year

After a positive city council vote, the City of Portland will become Maine's first city to raise the minimum wage starting in 2016. 

According to the Portland Press Herald, it took more than 2 and a half hours of debating before the City Council approved May Michael Brennan's plan to raise the City of Portland's minimum wage to $10.10 starting on January 1st, 2016.

The 2nd part of the approved plan calls for a 2nd increase in 2017, when the minimum wage will once again receive a bump, this time to $10.68 per hour. There was another proposal that called for smaller increases in the minimum over a longer period of time that was shelved in place of the Mayor's plan.

Detractors warned that Portland would become the only city in the Northeast with its own minimum wage and that it could lead to unintended consequences. The City Council still went forth with the positive vote, 6-3.

Are you going to get a raise in 2016 because of this? Or are you a business owner worried that you'll be affected negatively by this new wage increase? Let us know through social media using #portlandwagehike

Here is the full article from the Portland Press Herald with further details.