SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2032        FILED ON: 1/20/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1200

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Jason M. Lewis

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to raising the minimum wage closer to a living wage in the Commonwealth.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 2032        FILED ON: 1/20/2023

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1200

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act relative to raising the minimum wage closer to a living wage in the Commonwealth.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 151 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the word “It”, in line 1, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- Notwithstanding the provisions of section 27C of chapter 29 or any other general or special law to the contrary, it.

SECTION 2. section 1 of said chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting before the word “employer”, in line 2, the following words:- public or private.

SECTION 3. Section 1 of chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the figure “$15.00” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $16.25.

SECTION 4. Section 1 of chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “$16.25”, inserted by section 2, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $17.50.

SECTION 5. Section 1 of chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “$17.50”, inserted by section 4, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $18.75.

SECTION 6. Section 1 of chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “$18.75”, inserted by section 5, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $20.00.

SECTION 7. Chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking section 1 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 1. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 27C of chapter 29 or any other general or special law to the contrary, it is hereby declared to be against public policy for any public or private employer to employ any person in an occupation in this commonwealth at an oppressive and unreasonable wage as defined in section 2, and any contract, agreement or understanding for or in relation to such employment shall be null and void. Annually on September 30 the executive office of labor and workforce development shall calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate to maintain employee purchasing power by increasing the current year's minimum wage rate by the rate of inflation. The adjusted minimum wage rate shall be calculated to the nearest cent using the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers or a successor index, for the 12 months prior to each September 1st as calculated by the United States department of labor. Each adjusted minimum wage rate calculated under this section shall take effect on the following January 1.

SECTION 8. Section 7 of said chapter 151, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 33, the figure “$6.75” and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $7.92.

SECTION 9. Section 7 of said chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “$7.92”, inserted by section 8, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $9.19.

SECTION 10. Section 7 of said chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “$9.19”, inserted by section 9, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $10.55.

SECTION 11. Section 7 of said chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the figure “$10.55”, inserted by section 10, and inserting in place thereof the following figure:- $12.00.

SECTION 12. Section 7 of said chapter 151, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking the figure “$12.00”, inserted by section 11, and inserting in place thereof the following words:- “60 per cent of the minimum wage as determined by the executive office of labor and workforce development pursuant to section 1 of this chapter”.

SECTION 13. Section 3 and section 8 shall take effect on January 1, 2024.

SECTION 14. Section 4 and section 9 shall take effect on January 1, 2025.

SECTION 15. Section 5 and section 10 shall take effect on January 1, 2026.

SECTION 16. Section 6 and section 11 shall take effect on January 1, 2027.

SECTION 17. Section 7 and section 12 shall take effect on January 1, 2028.

SECTION 18. On September 30, 2027 the executive office of labor and workforce development shall calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate to maintain employee purchasing power by increasing the current year's minimum wage rate by the rate of inflation. The adjusted minimum wage rate shall be calculated to the nearest cent using the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers or a successor index, for the 12 months prior to September 1, 2027 as calculated by the United States department of labor. The adjusted minimum wage rate calculated under this section shall take effect on January 1, 2028.