State Minimum Wages

Posted on January 14, 2014 by admin

• Maryland’s minimum wage increase would affect workers, business owners, By Jean Marbella, January 11, 2014, Baltimore Sun: “At one end of the minimum wage battle, you’ll find Marissa Greene in Randallstown, for whom an increase would mean not having to eat nearly every meal at the fast-food place where she works, because groceries are a luxury. And at the other end, you’ll find Bob Garner, co-owner of a regional chain of full-service restaurants, who says an increase could cost him as much as $187,000 a year at just one of his 20 locations. Whether Maryland should raise its minimum wage above the current federal floor of $7.25 an hour is an issue that promises to dominate the legislative session that began last week in Annapolis — and have major implications for employers and employees alike…”
• Minimum wage loses ground since its banner year in 1968, By Scott Horsley, January 10, 2014, National Public Radio: “This week, we’ve been looking back at the legacy of the ‘War on Poverty,’ launched by Lyndon Johnson 50 years ago. The arsenal included government programs such as Head Start, food stamps and a push to increase the nation’s minimum wage. ‘We must extend the coverage of our minimum wage laws to more than 2 million workers now lacking this basic protection of purchasing power,’ Johnson said. Low-wage workers actually saw their purchasing power peak while Johnson was in office. Adjusting for inflation, minimum wage workers earn less today than they did in the late 1960s…”
• Minimum wage battles are shifting to the states, By Kimberly Railey, January 13, 2014, Boston Globe: “President Obama pledged in his 2013 State of the Union message to pursue a minimum wage increase nationwide, an issue all but forgotten since his first White House run. Declaring that ‘no one who works full time should have to live in poverty,’ Obama called for boosting the hourly minimum to $9. Nearly a year later, that goal remains unfulfilled, derailed by a slowly recovering economy and opposition from Republicans in Congress. So with the federal rate stuck at $7.25 and few prospects for change, the real focal point for wage battles in 2014 is moving to individual states…”