A pair of Maryland lawmakers propose raising the state’s minimum wage from $15 to $20 per hour over the next two years.
“The minimum wage in Maryland is insufficient to cover the cost of living. Delegate Adrian Boafo, a Democrat from Montgomery County, stated that all working people need to be able to earn enough where they work to feed themselves and their families.
Delegate Adrian Boafo said that if Governor Wes Moore’s measure to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour during his first year in office related the wage to inflation, it would be significantly higher than it is now.
“If we had done that, we would have been at about $23, $24 an hour, so what we’re saying is let’s phase in five more dollars by 2028,” Boafo stated at the news conference.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ pay inflation calculator, Boafo’s figure is incorrect.
The calculation shows less than a $1 per hour rise in the two years since the measure was introduced.
Cory McCray, a Delegate and Senate supporter, would also repeal the current system for paying and taxing tipped workers.
Making it such that waitresses and waiters earn the state minimum plus any tips they receive.
Also, exempting them from state income tax, saying that it would benefit the state’s finances.
“Revenue coming into the state from income taxes, from all workers, and tipped workers getting a significant raise far exceeds any cost to the state as a result of a tax credit,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage.
Tipped workers from around the state believe their present salaries are insufficient to satisfy their basic needs.
“Living on the sub-minimum wage and relying on tips is incredibly unstable,” said Khadija Sheriff, a tipped worker. “Our rent and bills don’t fluctuate with the economy but our tips do.”
Blake Vincent, a waiter from Washington, D.C., says he earns little more than $30 per hour with the district’s minimum wage plus tips.
“Making a full minimum wage with tips on top allows me the reliability to plan for my future,” Vincent told me.
The plan is to put it to a vote.
Marylanders would make a decision after the legislature established the parameters for the wage hike.
First, it must get through the House and Senate, where Republicans have already spoken out against it.
“Dead on arrival, it’s got no chance at all,” remarked Caroline, Cecil, Kent, and Queen Anne’s Counties Senator Stephen Hershey.
If the law succeeds, it will appear on the ballot in 2026.
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