Business Groups Pitch Plan for Minimum Wage Increase

Business groups in Maine are pitching a plan to boost the minimum wage to $10 an hour as an alternative to a citizens' initiative that would bring it to $12 hour.

The groups want the Legislature to send their plan to voters in November. Voters would then have the option of voting "yes" on one or the other, or "no" on both.

The coalition, which includes the Maine State Chamber of Commerce, will roll out its plan Wednesday.

It's a response to the Maine People's Alliance effort to raise the minimum wage from $7.50 to $9 an hour in 2017, followed by annual increases to $12 an hour by 2020. The left-leaning group and its supporters collected more than 75,000 valid signatures, more than enough to qualify for the ballot.