Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Maryland Senate on Thursday night passed a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage from the current $10.10 an hour.
Under the bill passed 32-15, the minimum wage would gradually increase to $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2025. All employees in Maryland would have to pay at least $11 an hour by Jan. 1, 2020. Employees with 15 ore more workers would have to pay at least $15 an hour by Jan. 1, 2025 but employers with 14 or fewer workers would have until Jan. 1, 2028 to boost pay to $15 an hour.
Gov. Larry Hogan asked lawmakers in a recent letter to the Legislature to raise pay to $12.10 by 2022.
“I would submit to you that no matter how laudable the goal, we must carefully consider the policy implications of a dramatic and untested increase in the minimum wage,” Hogan said in his March 8 letter.
Workers gathered outside the governor’s mansion on Wednesday shouted their disagreement with the proposed compromise.
“Raising the minimum wage is a vital investment in Maryland’s workforce that will strengthen the economy and help businesses and communities thrive,” said Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.
Barron-Menza said the raised minimum wage will “boost sales as workers can afford to spend more money at local businesses. And nothing drives job creation more than consumer demand.”
Earlier, the Maryland House voted 96-44 to pass a minimum wage bill that gradually raises pay to $15 by 2025. Lawmakers debated 90 minutes before taking action on the bill that was voted out of committee four days earlier.
After the Senate’s vote, the bill goes back to the House of Delegates, where lawmakers will have to concur with the Senate’s version.
Maryland’s current wage of $10.10 an hour took effect last July 1, although both Prince George’s and Montgomery counties pay slightly more to workers. The Senate version of the bill gives Montgomery and Prince George’s counties a temporary reprieve as it would not begin immediately.
Debate over the increase has workers jumping for joy while businessmen worry about the impact. The House bill would allow employers to pay workers younger than 18 only 85 percent of the minimum wage. Right now workers younger than 20 can be paid 85 percent for the first six months on the job.
State Rep. Diana Fennell, D-Prince George’s County, sponsored the House bill, while Sen. Cory McCray, D-Baltimore, is sponsoring the legislation in the Senate.
In the House bill, tipped workers, which would include waiters and waitresses, would still get paid $3.63 hourly but if tips don’t meet minimum wage standard then employers would make up the difference.
Rochelle Cowan, a local college student, said the pay raise will help students like her who work full-time but still struggle to meet monthly commitments.
“Some people may not have the education to get a certain job, so a minimum wage job is what pays the bills,” said Cowan.
The House bill would increase the minimum age to $11 on Jan. 1, 2020, with 75-cent increases each year after that. The full $15 minimum wage would come in 2025.
Some Maryland residents doubt that the pay raise will be helpful to all minimum-wage workers in the state.
“It’s not going to raise now, not all at once,” said Bowie resident Felicia Lawrence. “With the way cost of living is going up, $15 isn’t going to be enough for people like me, who have a family and more.”
The Maryland Restaurant Association opposes the wage increase.
An op-ed piece written by Melvin Thompson of Maryland Restaurant Association discusses the opposition of the wage raise for restaurant workers.
“Most restaurants strongly oppose a $15 starting wage because it would be unsustainable for our industry to pay such high wages for low-skill, entry-level jobs,” Thompson wrote. “Ultimately, some restaurants won’t be able to maintain an increase of labor cost.”
Some companies, such as Starbucks, worry little about debates over minimum wage because their employees earn well above the minimum and receive annual pay raises.
“Anytime minimum wage is raised it helps the economy,” said Towson Starbucks manager Eric Fitter, who beamed with pride that Starbucks is ahead of the curve.
Some Starbucks workers take state lawmakers to task for just now looking at a raise.
“It should’ve already been raised,” said Semhal Selamavi, working the Starbucks counter. “Where minimum wage is now can’t support a whole family.”
Maryland joins several states in trying to raise wages to $15, including California, New Jersey and New York. The District of Columbia is the highest paying in the nation and plans to increase wages by $.75 in the summer.
1 Comment
Great article!!!