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By Bob Salsberg
Associated Press (AP), Sept 19, 2017

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. ...

Not all business groups oppose the legislation. About 200 private business owners and executives signed on to a statement declaring that a gradual increase in the minimum wage would be "good for business, customers and our economy." ...

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