A campaign has been launched to gradually raise Maryland’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10 by 2015.
Maryland Sen. Rob Garagiola, a Democrat from a Germantown, and Prince George’s County lawmaker Del. Aisha N. Braveboy are co-sponsoring legislation and held a rally Tuesday in Annapolis to garner support.
The legislation will be introduced in the next two weeks, Garagiola said in a statement released to media.
“Maryland workers are in desperate need of a raise,” Garagiola said in the emailed statement. “Our people are working harder but aren’t earning more, and it’s time to give a much needed boost to our economy. Raising the minimum wage would not only put more money in the pockets of these workers but also increase business activity in our state.”
The campaign—Raise Maryland—has reportedly gained backing from union leaders, Democrat groups, and other community groups such as the NAACP andCASA de Maryland.
How it Would Work
Under the proposal, Maryland's minimum wage would be increased in three increments—to $8.25 in 2013; $9 in 2014; and $10 in 2015—and would be "indexed" in 2016 to keep up with increases in the cost of living.
The minimum wage would also increase for tipped workers, such as waitresses, carwash attendants and nail salon workers, from 50 percent of the minimum wage to 70 percent.
Maryland’s rate is the same as the federal rate, at $7.25. But 19 states have set higher minimum wage rates, according to federal data. Washington State offers the top rate, at $9.19.
Minimum wages are not required in five states, federal data show.
Locally, minimum-wage workers in Washington, DC earn a dollar more than their cohorts in Maryland and Virginia, which also has a minimum wage of $7.25.
Maryland's minimum wage was last increased in 2005, according to Garagiola.
Raise the Rate Part Two?
There was an unsuccessful attempt to enact similar legislation in 2011.
At the time, Garagiola reportedly told state politics blog MarylandReporter.com that a wage hike would help the state’s economy and re-center the distribution of wealth:
“The argument is very strong that we need to raise it from the level we’re at today,” Garagiola said. “We’ve seen over the last several decades a growing disparity between high-wage earners and low-wage earners.”
Garagiola had gained the backing of 14 other senators, state legislative records show.
But business owners quoted in the same MarylandReporter.com account complained that raising the minimum wage would mean having to cut employees' hours or worse—having to let workers go.
Beyond the increase in minimum wage you advocate, where do you stand on Gov. O'Malley's insistence on requiring union labor for all state expenditures? He made this clear in the December 19, 2012 Board of Public Works meeting where I spoke in opposition to the South Valley Park bond bill application, a bond bill you signed onto. Inquiries to the Montgomery Village EVP reveal a flagging commitment to union labor on the design and construction of the South Valley Park Restroom and Concession stand. I await a response from Alvin Collins head of the Department of General Services on whether bills submitted to his office for non union labor will qualify for reimbursement against the $125,000 state grant awarded for the project. Please tell us where do you stand on this and why.
Rob Garagiola has already pegged his public support for an increase in minimum wage. Gov. O'Malley has moved a step further on the continuum in pegging his public expectation for union labor on state funded projects. The question for Rob Garagiola, do you stand with the Governor on union labor on state funded projects... or do you fall short? The question for Bob Hydorm, do you stand with the Governor on union labor on state funded projects? More specifically, will you insist on using union labor for the design and construction of the South Valley Park Restroom and Concession stand as a condition for collecting $125,000 in state reimbursement for the project... or will you ask the residents of Montgomery Village to pay the full $250,000 cost of the project?
For someone who is such a stickler for spelling you should have gotten it right.
Why stop there? Why not raise it to $20 or even $30? Then the Annapolis Statehouse can spend more money that it does not have on uemployment benefits, since more people will end up out of work or have an even harder time finding a job. In all seriousness, folks, the mininimum wage is a maximum means for maintaining or deepening economic stagnation and umeployment. Marylanders, enough with one-party rule! These pols have no idea but job security, theirs, not yours! Say "No!" to minimum wage hikes.
This discussion on minimum wage is above you pay grade. Are you serving as Rob Garagiola's mouthpiece? In a democracy, ideas are like flood water; they create their own path... unless someone tries to block them. For best results, go with the flow. By not engaging in the discussion blog he started, Rob Garagiola may think he is on high ground, high and dry. But in a democracy, reluctance to engage is actually the low road.