The South Church’s Social Justice Associates group will host a community forum on “the need for a livable wage” on Sunday, April 12 at 1:30 p.m. in the church sanctuary, located at 292 State St. in Portsmouth.
Legislators from Maine and New Hampshire, including Maine state Rep. Deane Rykerson from Kittery, and New Hampshire senators Martha Fuller Clark and David Watters, and state Rep. Jackie Cilley, will lead the panel discussion. Cilley and Fuller Clark sponsored HB 684, a bill that would have set the state’s minimum wage at $9.10 an hour in 2016, $11.40 an hour in 2017, and $14.25 an hour in 2018, with future increases tied to the cost of living index. The bill was killed in the House Labor Committee. New Hampshire lawmakers defeated other attempts this session to increase the minimum wage. For more information about the forum, call 603-436-4762. — Larry Clow