BFMW In the News

Carroll County Times: John Shepley, Higher Wage Is Good Business Sense

By John Shepley
Carroll County Times, 3/22/11. Distributed by the American Forum.

As a small business owner, I support legislation to increase Maryland's inadequate minimum wage because it makes good business sense. It's an important part of our economic recovery and economic progress. I know businesses can pay a better minimum wage and still make a profit - it helps the business prosper.

Opponents of this legislation like the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Maryland Retailers Association, and the Restaurant Association tell you the time is not right to increase the minimum wage because the economy is weak.

The Sentinel: Bills could increase wages for local tipped workers

By Andrew Damstedt
The Sentinel, March 16, 2011 

A job creator or a job killer is the debate circling two bills that would raise the minimum wage.

A bill backed by Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Fort Washington, in Congress would raise the minimum wage for tipped employees, while a bill facing debate in Annapolis would raise the minimum wage for tipped employees and the regular minimum wage.

The bill before the General Assembly would increase Maryland’s minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $9.75 per hour by 2013. Tipped employees would see their minimum wage rise to $6.19 in July from $3.63.

Springfield (MO) News Leader: Senate gets bill to cap minimum wage

Jefferson City -- A bill that would repeal a 2006 voter initiative by capping the state minimum wage has moved to the Senate, where its prospects are uncertain.

The bill was a goal of House leadership, but their Senate counterparts haven't made it as much of a priority. Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer said he didn't know when - or even if - the chamber would take up the bill.

"Others have been a greater priority for me," he said.

Craig Sewell, Testimony on Bill to Raise Maryland Minimum Wage

Testimony on SB716,“Labor and Employment - Maryland Wage and Hour Law - Payment of Wages”
For Senate Finance Committee, March 3, 2011

Craig Sewell, Owner, A Cook’s Café, Annapolis

I am submitting this testimony to voice my support as a business owner for raising Maryland’s minimum wage.  It is a vital step for the wellbeing of our workers, our economy and our state.

Truman Index (MO): House of Representatives passes minimum wage bill

By Kathrine Olsen Flaate
Truman State University Index, March 3, 2011

The Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would freeze Missouri minimum wage from exceeding the federal minimum wage, even if the Consumer Price Index increases.

If the cost of living increases, the minimum wage of $7.25 would not increase with it as it normally does. The federal minimum wage and state minimum wage currently are the same. The Missouri Senate still has to pass the bill before it is made law.

The Committee on International Trade and Job creation, which Representative Zachary Wyatt, R-District 2, is a member, voted 10-5 to bring the bill to the floor for vote.

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Lawmaker tries to limit Missouri minimum wage

By Rebecca Berg
St. Louis Post Dispatch, Feb 24, 2011

About 32 years ago, Lew Prince started a business with 300 records and $20.

Today, Vintage Vinyl in University City has ballooned into a multimillion-dollar business with 19 full-time and six part-time employees.

Prince attributes the success of his business model to two factors in particular: quality employees and loyal customers. But both would be at risk, he said, if state legislators pushing minimum wage restrictions get their way.

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Lew Prince, Keep your hands off our wages

By Lew Prince
St. Louis Post Dispatch, Feb 23, 2011

The Republicans in the Missouri Legislature are trying to overturn the clearly expressed will of the people in order to give gigantic welfare checks to some of America's biggest corporations.

Nearly 1.6 million Missourians voted to raise the minimum wage in 2006. Only 501,657 voted against the proposition. That was a 3-to-1 margin.

AP: Missouri minimum wage law meets different opinions

By Wes Duplantier/The Associated Press
Columbia Missourian, January 26, 2011

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri business owners and hourly workers voiced mixed opinions Wednesday about whether the state should change its minimum wage law.

Several business owners told a House panel that lawmakers should repeal a minimum wage law Missouri voters approved in 2006 and instead keep its minimum wage equal to the federal rate. The 2006 law provides for annual increases based on the pace of inflation in the Midwest.

WJZ CBS Baltimore: Group Pushes To Increase Minimum Wage

Kitchen workers often make minimum wage. So do housekeepers and store clerks. That’s $7.25 an hour, but a bill in Annapolis would raise it to $8.25 this year, to $9.10 next year and in 2013 to $10 an hour.

“We believe a job should keep people out of poverty, not in it,” said Rev. Ken Brooker-Langston.

A plant farm owner joined religious and labor leaders to support paying workers more. “I can count on those employees to look after the quality of products we make,” said John Shepley.

ABC 2: Raising Maryland's minimum wage

Progressive Maryland and several state senators are behind a movement aiming to raise the state's minimum wage over the next few years. Under the plan, the state's minimum wage would go from $7.25 an hour to $10 an hour by 2013.

John Shepley, co-owner of Emory Knoll Farms, says paying his employees more money has many advantages to him, including not having to deal with employee turn around.

Those behind the movement say putting more money in Marylanders’ pockets will help to stimulate the state's economy.

© 2011 Scripps Media Inc

Pioneer Press: Some tips for Tom Emmer

By C. Ford Runge Pioneer Press, 07/13/2010

Gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer's most substantive economic proposal to date is a 'tip credit': to reduce the incomes of waiters and waitresses in Minnesota by pushing their wages below the minimum to compensate for tip income. Emmer noted breathlessly last week that at least three waiters at the Eagle Street Grille in St. Paul were being paid $100,000. "Tips for Tom," as he calls it, is presumably justified as a way of lowering wages to increase business profits - an idea going back at least to Herbert Hoover as a solution to recession and depression.