ANNAPOLIS, Md.—The Maryland General Assembly voted March 20 to pass a bill that would raise the
state’s minimum wage from $10.10 to $15 an hour over then next seven years. The process would begin with an increase to $11 on Jan. 1, and the minimum would reach $15 in January 2025 for employers with 15 or more workers, and July 2026 for smaller companies. The measure would allow lower minimums for tipped workers, farmworkers, and workers under 18. Gov. Larry Hogan, who has said that raising Maryland’s minimum to $15 when Virginia’s and Pennsylvania’s are only $7.25 would “harm our economy,” has not revealed whether he will sign or veto it. He has proposed an increase to $12.10 in 2021. Ricarra Jones of the Service Employees International Union told the Baltimore Sun that she hopes Hogan “does not turn his back on the working class and signs this bill.” In any case, the bill passed by margins large enough to override a veto, 93-41 in the House of Delegates and 32-13 in the Senate. Read more
