BFMW In the News

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.

By Greg Ellison
Ocean City Today (MD), Feb 14, 2019

This years’ edition of Maryland’s “Fight for Fifteen” Minimum Wage Bill ... generated roughly eight hours of testimony from more than 160 witnesses during its first House Committee hearing last Friday in Annapolis. Del. Diana Fennell (D-47, Prince George’s) and Sen. Cory McCray (D-45, Baltimore) revived the wage issue during 2019 by sponsoring cross-filed HB 166 and SB 280, which seek to raise the minimum wage to $11 per hour later this year, and then add $1 each year until reaching $15 in 2023. ...

By Pamela Wood and Lorraine Mirabella
The Baltimore Sun, Feb 11, 2019

Thousands of Maryland workers and business owners stand to be affected if state lawmakers raise the minimum wage from $10.10 per hour to $15. ... The proposal before lawmakers would raise the minimum wage to $11 per hour this summer, with a dollar increase each year after until it reaches $15. ...

Here’s a look at how some workers and business owners are viewing the issue.

Aaron Seyedian: Cleaning with a mission