Lawmakers’ most recent attempt at establishing a state minimum wage this legislation session failed in the House Thursday morning. The measure, which was rejected by a vote of 185 to 143, would have increased the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2019.
Currently New Hampshire’s minimum wage is set at the federal rate of $7.25 an hour, making it the lowest minimum wage in all of New England.
But Republican Keith Murphy of Bedford told his colleagues Thursday that raising the minimum wage would have unintended consequences.
“Do we really want to make every New Hampshire product and service more expensive? Do we really want to discourage people from creating jobs and hiring people?," Murphy said on the floor.
Last month a bill looking to up the minimum wage to $12 an hour within two months of its passage was killed in the Senate.
