Minimum wage bargain reached

A grand bargain between political powerhouses over a slate of economic ballot questions passed the Legislature, sending to Gov. Charlie Baker a compromise that boosts minimum wages, enacts paid family and medical leave and enshrines a yearly sales tax holiday.

The bill, unveiled to lawmakers early yesterday hours before it passed the House 126-25, and the Senate 30-8, averts at least two popular ballot measures — a retailer-backed budget-busting $1.5 billion cut to the state’s sales tax and an initiative to institute paid family and medical leave pushed by a grassroots coalition.

The deal hikes the minimum wage in Massachusetts to $15 an hour over five years while phasing out the state’s time-and-a-half Sunday pay over that same period. It adds 12 weeks of paid family leave and 20 weeks of paid medical leave. It creates a permanent sales tax holiday starting next year.

“This legislation is an enormous win for working families,” said Raise Up Massachusetts spokesman Stephen Crawford, whose group dropped its family leave ballot measure in the deal.

Read more: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/business_markets/2018/06/minimum_wage_bargain_reached