John Aromando Quoted in Law360 on Recent Minimum Wage Ballot Measures

While workers in Nebraska and the District of Columbia will receive higher pay after voters approved recent ballot measures raising minimum wages, a similar measure in Portland, Maine was defeated.

Portland’s Question D, “An Act to Eliminate the Sub-Minimum Wage, Increase Minimum Wages, and Strengthen Protections for Workers” would have increased the minimum wage for all workers to $18 an hour over three years, end the subminimum wage for tipped workers, and create a Department of Fair Labor Practices to establish rules for a minimum wage for taxi and app-based drivers and delivery workers.

Pierce Atwood litigation partner John Aromando attributed the outcome to “potential voter fatigue with citizen initiatives, including one for a $15 minimum wage in 2020.”

John added, “Portland just had a successful citizen initiative on the minimum wage question one or two years ago, so this is something that they keep coming back to, and I think they just exceeded the public’s tolerance for this.” 

The complete article by Max Kutner can be found in the November 9th edition of Law360.