Lawmakers hear calls for a higher minimum wage: $15 an hour

BOSTON — Backers of a drive to gradually boost the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour told a legislative committee on Tuesday that many people who work full time at their jobs still live in poverty and struggle to support their families.

The group Raise Up Massachusetts is collecting signatures to put a $15 minimum wage proposal before voters on the November 2018 ballot if the Legislature does not act on a bill during its current two-year session.

In 2014, lawmakers faced with the similar prospect of a ballot campaign approved a three-step increase in the hourly minimum from $8 to the current $11.

Along with Washington, Massachusetts' wage stands now as the highest minimum wage among U.S. states. California last year approved a law that would gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all workers by Jan. 1, 2023, and several cities including New York and Seattle are phasing in a $15 minimum.

Read more: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_politics/2017/09/lawmakers_hear_calls_for_a_higher_minimum_wage_15_an_hour