Even though California and New York passed plans to incrementally increase their minimum wages to $15 an hour, many are still divided on the issue. Those in favor of raising the minimum wage believe it will help to battle the growing inequality in the U.S. However, those opposed believe that a higher wage will put strain on struggling cities. In Massachusetts, the minimum wage is expected to increase from $10 to $11 an hour by January of 2017. Currently, the median wage of workers in Massachusetts is around $21.19 an hour so an increase to $15 is 70% of the state's median wage. This large minimum wage increase has the potential to greatly improve workers' welfare or it could lead to massive job cuts from companies.
See "What Might Happen if Mass. Passes a $15 Minimum Wage?", Evan Horowitz, The Boston Globe, April 8, 2016