BFMW In the News

By Richard Bishop
Letter to the Editor, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, April 16, 2019

Sullying good name

As a small-business owner, I was relieved when legislation trying to weaken the law raising the minimum wage was voted down in the Legislature recently. I, along with the majority of Arkansans, voted to raise the minimum wage last November because it makes good economic sense. Some lawmakers tried to use the good name of small business as a reason to weaken the law. That's offensive to small-business owners like myself.

By Kaylea Granville
Baltimore Watchdog, March 29, 2019

The Fight for $15 Coalition is basking in the glow of victory Friday now that the Maryland Legislature has rejected Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill that would raise the state’s minimum wage from the current $10.10 an hour to $15 an hour by 2025.

“When workers have more money, they’ll spend more money that’s poured into smaller businesses,” said Coalition Chair Ricarra Jones. ...

By Ally Schweitzer
WAMU 88.5, March 28, 2019

... But employers like Tim’s Towing and Tulkoff Food Products are countered by other business owners across the state who say better wages create better employees.

“It’s important to pay people fairly, because I expect them to show up on time and work hard,” says Andrew Buerger, who co-owns B’More Organic, a maker of drinkable Icelandic-style yogurt. “If they have the sniffles, [they] come in. If it’s a snowstorm, they come in. You can’t pay somebody $10 an hour and expect them to give 110 percent.”

By Ally Schweitzer
WAMU 88.5, March 14, 2019

Maryland’s Senate passed a bill Thursday that gradually increases the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour ... though it establishes a slower timeline for employers with 14 or fewer workers. Next the bill moves to the House of Delegates, where legislators recently passed a version of the legislation without a different timeline for smaller employers. If delegates concur with the Senate bill, it will head to Gov. Larry Hogan for him to sign, veto or let become law without his signature. ...

Op-Ed By Ned Atwater, Owner, Atwater's
... We’ve grown to six restaurant/bakeries, a catering team and a small working farm ... We support raising Maryland’s minimum wage to $15 ...

By Andrew Buerger
Baltimore Sun, Letter to the Editor, March 12, 2019

As a business owner, I’m looking forward to Maryland lawmakers improving our economic climate by raising the minimum wage to $15 (“Maryland House of Delegates approves bill to raise state's hourly minimum wage to $15 by 2025,” Mar. 1). It will be a win-win-win for workers, businesses and customers.

By Ally Schweitzer
WAMU 88.5, March 11, 2019

One of the fiercest debates in Maryland’s General Assembly this year has revolved around how much workers should be paid to care for senior citizens, serve food and perform other tasks essential to the region’s economy and quality of life.

By William J. Ford
Washington Informer, March 9, 2019

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan sent a letter to legislature leadership Friday offering a “compromise” to the ongoing proposal to gradually increase the state’s minimum hourly wage to $15, which the majority Democratic House approved last week. According to the letter addressed to Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. and House Speaker Michael Busch, the minimum wage would increase to $12.10 by 2022. ...

By Holden Wilen
Baltimore Business Journal, March 7, 2019

A Senate committee advanced a bill that would raise Maryland's minimum wage to $15 per hour after ... The latest version of the bill would slow down incremental increases in the minimum wage so it does not reach $15 for businesses with 14 or fewer employees until 2028. The original bill would have increased the minimum wage for all business to $15 by 2023. ...

Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of Business For a Fair Minimum Wage, said the committee should not have lengthened the timeline for businesses with fewer than 15 employees. [More than] Three out of four businesses will be on the longer timeline, she said.

Op-Ed By Brian England, Owner, BA Auto Care
... What we’ve paid in higher compensation, we have more than reaped in long-term loyalty, low turnover, high numbers of return customers and referrals, and consistent growth. ...

By William J. Ford
Washington Informer, Mar 3, 2019

ANNAPOLIS — Maryland inched closer to gradually increasing the state’s minimum hourly wage to $15 by 2025. The House of Delegates voted 96-44 Friday for the bill, which now goes to the Senate. ...

The state’s current minimum hourly wage stands at $10.10. Under the legislation approved Friday, it would increase to $11 by January 2020, then by 75 cents every year and finally by $1 to $15 by January 2025.

By Arelis R. Hernandez
Washington Post, Feb 27, 2019

The Maryland House of Delegates gave initial approval Wed­nesday to legislation requiring a $15 minimum wage, a priority for progressive Democrats that failed to advance to the House floor in previous years. ...

Other business leaders say they favor a higher wage, believing that it can reduce turnover and boost worker productivity.

By Luke Darby
GQ, Feb 26, 2019

Even in the nicest, friendliest of times, Twitter is an angry place. ...

In this environment, brands are struggling to figure out exactly what their voice and messaging should be, which is how we've ended up with woke Steak-umms and clinically depressed Sunny D. But all of them could take a lesson from a surprisingly reasonable, straightforward, and fully accurate soap.

By Teresa Kay Albertson
Des Moines Register, Feb 25, 2019

The owner of an Iowa artisan salami company testified before the U.S. Congress this month in support of raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour. 

Kathy Eckhouse of La Quercia told members of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor that workers like the 60 people at her Norwalk cured meats facility deserve to make living wage. 

“We really believe people need to make enough money to live a comfortable life,” she said last week back home in Iowa. 

By Danielle E. Gaines
Maryland Matters, Feb 22, 2019. Also WTOP

As lawmakers consider whether to adopt a $15 minimum wage, some are also asking whether that figure is needed everywhere in Maryland. ...

But supporters of a statewide “Clean 15” bill – without carve-outs for certain industries or regions – said such logic was flawed.