Maryland Minimum Wages
Edward Calkins '22 Staff Writer
as 2020 settles in, Maryland has raised the minimum wage. Under a new law which took full effect Jan. 1, the wage went from $10.10/hour to $11.00/hour. Governor Larry Hogan had vetoed the bill last year, claiming that “a mandated increase in the minimum wage would make Maryland less competitive and could cause low-wage workers to lose their jobs.” But a day later, the Assembly overrode the veto, reversing Hogan's decision.
The wage will not stay at $11.00, as it is set to rise to $15.00/hour by 2026. The bill will follow a schedule that increases Maryland’s minimum wage based on the number of employees at a company. Companies with 15 or more employees will have to raise their wage to $15.00/hour by January 1, 2025. Companies with less than 15 employees will have another year and a half to raise their wages, according to the Baltimore Sun. Sophomore Connor Schrott works at Moorenkos on Main Street, Ellicott City. He currently makes $9.75/hour, but was “overwhelmingly excited” about the increase and plans to put that money toward his future. “Although the new wage can help me invest more into college, it still restricts what I can buy on a regular basis since I’m not 16 yet,” he said. The bill allows companies to pay employees under 18 as low as 85 percent of the new wage. Chisomaga Obioha, a junior, works at Panera Bread. Although she is currently paid "a little bit above minimum wage, but since the [minimum] wage has increased, [her] pay did go up.” She plans to put more money into savings. As the wage continues to rise, The Board of Public Works could suspend the bill if they see a decline in employment. Since Governor Hogan was elected into office, the minimum wage has gone from $8.75 to now $11.00, and will continue to rise. There are currently 22 states with the national minimum wage of $7.25. Washington D.C. currently has the highest minimum wage, at $14.00/hour, but it will rise to $15.00/hour by July this year. A number of states, including New York, have proposed or passed bills to increase their minimum wage towards $15. While Maryland was one of the later states to raise the wage, the outcome is one of the highest in the country. https://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx |