AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine election officials say the citizens’ initiative petition to increase the state minimum wage is valid.
The Maine Secretary of State’s Office announced Tuesday that the Bureau of Corporations, Elections and Commissions found 75,275 valid signatures for the petition. A minimum of 61,123 signatures is required.
The bureau found 11,163 invalid signatures.
The petition proposes raising the minimum wage to $9 per hour in 2017 and by $1 per hour each year after that until it is $12 per hour in 2020.
Maine’s minimum wage now stands at $7.50 an hour, 25 cents above the federal minimum.
The Legislature can now choose to enact the bill as written or to send it to voters on the November ballot.
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