Legislation to raise Maryland’s minimum wage got a boost today as the measure passed Second Reader in the House of Delegates.  The measure, which would increase Maryland’s minimum wage to $10.10 by 2017, will go through Third Reader in the House on Friday, March 7. The Senate Finance Committee is still holding work groups on the proposal and is expected to take action during the week of March 10.

“Today’s action in the House of Delegates shows that we have the momentum needed to move this bill through the House and the Senate and that nearly 500,000 workers in Maryland are closer to getting a raise,” said Ricarra Jones, chair of Raise Maryland.

This is the first time that a minimum wage bill has been considered by the full House of Delegates since 2006. Previous efforts to raise the wage in 2011 and 2013 did not win approval of House and Senate committees.

Key provisions of the Maryland Minimum Wage Act of 2014 were stripped out during consideration of the bill in the House Economic Matters Committee.  A proposal to index the minimum wage so that it would rise during to keep pace with the cost of living was amended out of the bill. A measure to raise wages for tipped workers from 50 to 70 percent of the minimum wage has been changed to freeze tipped wages at $3.63, the current rate. This amendment means that as the minimum wage rises, tipped worker’s pay would remain at the current level, giving them a pay cut. Advocates are working to keep the tipped wage at 50 percent of the current minimum wage in the Senate version of the bill.

The nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute has found that more than 455,000 Marylanders would benefit from the increase, putting $456 million more in their pockets in the next two years. At the same time, businesses would benefit from nearly half a billion dollars in new consumer spending and would create more than 1,600 new full-time jobs as they expand to meet increased demand.

 

Original Story 

The House Economic Matters Committee voted 13 – 8 in favor of the the Minimum Wage Act of 2014, which will raise the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 by January 2017. It is the first time since 2006 that a minimum wage bill has passed out of the Ho