Voters in Portland have approved changes to the city’s emergency minimum wage ordinance.
Under a previous referendum approved by voters four years ago, nonremote workers in Portland received 1.5 times the minimum wage during any state of emergency. Now, the boost in hazard pay for Portland workers will only apply when city officials declare an emergency, not the governor.
Unofficial election results from the city of Portland show about 51 percent of residents voted in favor of the referendum. About 36 percent voted against the measure.
Quincy Hentzel, president and CEO of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the referendum should help in situations like this past winter, when an emergency was declared for storms that didn’t severely impact the city.
“We heard from a lot of restaurant owners when that happened, as well as child care providers, because the child care providers, the wages they had to pay increased time-and-a-half,” she said. “Yet they couldn’t charge families more money. And some of the child care providers do get subsidies from the state. Those do not increase when the emergency wage goes up.”
Some child care providers closed as a result, Hentzel said.
Voters also approved changes to Portland’s short-term rental policy, which includes new registration requirements for unit owners.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
