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What I've Been Reading This Week


The news out of Maine yesterday in regard to efforts by some lawmakers in the state to slow the minimum wage hike approved by voters in 2016 is somewhat eye opening.  I paid little attention to the topic since voters in the state had approved annual minimum wage hikes up to $12/hour in 2020, but this recent effort by Republicans to delay (and limit) the wage hike is interesting, to say the least.  As the article I noted below points out, this is a highly partisan issue and one that will likely continue to play out over the coming months.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


A Refresher on the NFL Cheerleader Wage Fight

It has been quite some time since I addressed the ongoing wage fight by NFL cheerleaders (as well as NBA cheerleaders).  Ruth Reader at The Fast Company wrote a good article recently which addressed the fight by these cheerleaders for higher wages and tracked the developments over the past few years.  While there is not a lot of news on this front for the time being, this article gives readers a good refresher on the topic and provides a bit of clarity as to what is actually in dispute with these cases.


Maine Legislative Committee Splits On Plan to Delay Minimum Wage Hike

Yesterday, Maine's Labor, Research, Commerce and Economic Development Committee voted 7 - 6 against a proposal that would have limited annual increases to the state's minimum wage and delayed the next wage hike until 2020.  The proposal seeks to limit the annual increases to $.50 (rather than the voter approved $1) and would establish a youth or training wage to allow employers in the state to pay employees under the age of 18 at 80% of the minimum wage for the first 200 hours worked.  The 7 Democrats on the committee voted against the proposal while the 6 Republicans supported the measure.  The measure will now proceed to the House and Senate which is expected to produce animated debate on both sides.  While Republicans have a 1 vote advantage in the Senate, the House is made up of 74 Democrats, 70 Republicans, 6 independents, and 1 Green lawmaker.  Something tells me this is likely far from over.

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