State's Minimum Wage to Hit $10.10 An Hour By 2018
By Scott Calvert and Eric Morath
Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2014
Maryland lawmakers on Monday approved gradually raising the minimum wage there to $10.10 an hour, the latest in a wave of states that have boosted the pay rate amid uncertain prospects in Congress for a federal increase. ...
Some businesses owners say the wage increase will help their bottom lines.
"This will be good for my business," said Scott Nash, chief executive of Mom's Organic Market, a grocer with seven Maryland locations. "Larger paychecks mean more people will come and buy organic products." He said an employee who works full time should earn enough to support their family. Starting pay at Mom's is $10 an hour. That level will likely increase to $11 later this year, Mr. Nash said. ...
Fully implementing the increase will take longer than proposed by Gov. O'Malley, who wanted the new wage to reach $10.10 in 2016. Now it won't take full effect until July 2018. The first increase will be in January, when the minimum rises to $8 an hour from its current $7.25 an hour.
Maryland will join Connecticut as the first states to put wages on a definite path to $10.10 per hour. The base wage in both Washington state and Oregon likely will be above $10 within five years because their wages are tied to inflation. Washington's current state wage of $9.32 an hour is the highest nationally, followed by Oregon at $9.10. California's is going to $9 in July and $10 in January 2016. The District of Columbia and two Maryland counties outside Washington will all reach $11.50 by 2017.
Write to Eric Morath at eric.morath@wsj.comand Scott Calvert at scott.calvert@wsj.com
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