A national network of business owners and executives who
believe a fair minimum wage makes good business sense
Business for a Fair Minimum Wage is a national network of business owners and executives who believe a fair minimum wage makes good business sense
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.
By Ally Schweitzer
WAMU 88.5, Feb 22, 2019
The debate over Maryland’s minimum wage continued in a Senate committee hearing Thursday, with business owners mounting dueling arguments for and against a proposal that would raise the wage to $15 statewide.
Maryland’s minimum wage is currently $10.10, except in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, where it’s $12 and $11.50, respectively. The “Fight for $15” bill, introduced by Democrats from Baltimore and Prince George’s County, would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2023. ...
By Lowell Melser
WBAL TV NBC, Feb 21, 2019
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The minimum wage fight has made its way to Annapolis....
People on both sides packed Thursday's hearing to plead their cases to lawmakers.
Brian England, who owns an auto repair company at which all 16 of his employees make more than minimum wage, supports the bill, saying it will be better for the economy.
By Sara Swann
Salisbury Daily Times for Delmarva Now, Feb 21, 2019
... Democratic lawmakers in Maryland are pushing for a landmark minimum wage increase to $15 an hour by 2023. ... The reason for this latest push for a higher minimum wage, advocates say, is because $10.10 per hour doesn't go far enough to cover living expenses.
Bringing the rate up to $15 an hour would ... allow for additional spending, which would strengthen the economy, said Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.
By Tim Shelley
25 News NBC, Week Television, Feb 19, 2019
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WEEK) — Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a bill into law which will raise the Illinois minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. Senate Bill 1 will gradually increase the minimum wage from the current $8.25 an hour to $15 an hour. The first wage hike is set to go into effect on Jan. 1 of next year, when the minimum wage will increase to $9.25 an hour. ...
One business owner in favor of the minimum wage increase is Robert Olson, an insurance agent with an office in Washington.
Rich Miller, Capitol Fax, Feb 19, 2019
* Gov. JB Pritzker signed the $15 an hour minimum wage bill into law today. The react I’ve received so far is all from supporters. ...
* Business for a Fair Minimum Wage…
Illinois business owners say the new $15 minimum wage, signed into law today by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, will be good for business.