by Jared Schwartz ‘18

The Maryland General Assembly is considering passing a bill that would raise the state minimum wage to $15 per an hour. The bill, “Labor and Employment – Payment of Minimum Wage Required (Fight for Fifteen),” would set a road map to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2022. This plan would raise the minimum wage to $12 per hour on July 1, 2019 before being increased by one dollar per hour annually until 2022 for employers with 26 or more employees. For employers with under 26 employees, a year-delayed schedule would apply with the minimum wage being raised to $11 in 2019. The bill is sponsored by Democrat Richard Madeleno. The bill is currently in the Senate where it was introduced.

Another bill regarding the minimum wage was recently withdrawn after an unfavorable report by the House of Delegates committee on economic matters. The bill, “Labor and Employment-Wages and Benefits-Preemption of Local Authority,” would have prohibited counties or municipalities from enacting any law that “regulates wages or benefits provided by an employer other than the county or municipality.” The bill was sponsored by Democrat Dereck Davis.

The Montgomery County Council recently voted 5-4 to raise the hourly minimum wage to $15 for most employees by 2020, but the bill was vetoed by County Executive Isiah Leggett. In a statement accompanying the veto, Leggett expressed his support for “the effort to move toward a $15 per hour over an appropriate timeframe,” but stated that he believed that “we should not reach $15/hour for all employees until 2022,” and that “small employers will be hit particularly hard, and thus should be exempted entirely from the increased minimum wage requirement.” The council would require six votes to override the veto.

Maryland’s current minimum wage is $8.75 per hour, and is set to increase to $9.25 per hour on July 1, 2017, and to $10.10 per hour exactly one year later. Montgomery County’s current minimum wage is $10.75 per hour, and it will increase to $11.50 on July 1.

Attempts to implement a $15 per hour minimum wage are part of a national movement started by fast food workers called “The Fight for $15,” which aims to increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour nationwide. The movement’s website states that, “As underpaid workers we know what it’s like to struggle to get by. We struggle even to pay our bills and put food on the table for our families.” Opponents of the $15 hourly minimum wage argue that it would hurt businesses, forcing them to either relocate to an area with a lower minimum wage, or cause them to cut employees to make up for lost profits.