BOSTON (AP) — House and Senate negotiators have reached a compromise on a bill hiking the minimum wage in Massachusetts.
The bill filed last night by a six-member conference committee would increase the current $8 per hour minimum wage by $3 over the next three years.
The hourly minimum for the state’s lowest paid workers would go to $9 on Jan. 1, 2015, to $10 the following new year, and finally to $11 on Jan. 1, 2017.
The measure would not tie future increases to inflation.
The bill represents a compromise between a Senate bill calling for an $11 minimum wage indexed to inflation, and a House-passed bill calling for an increase to $10.50 per hour, without indexing.
The compromise, which also seeks to rein in unemployment insurance costs for employers, must be approved in both chambers.
