Minimum wage is the lowest amount of money someone can get paid for an hour of work. In Maryland, the minimum wage increased to $11 on January 1, 2020.
The minimum wage at the beginning of 2018 was $9.25. On July 1, 2018, it went up to $10.10. On March 14, 2019, the Maryland Senate approved a bill (SB 280), which would increase the state-wide minimum wage. The minimum wage will have increased to $15 by January 1, 2025, starting with raising it to $11 on January 1, 2020. California, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts have the same planned for 2025.
For many businesses, it’s hard to pay their employees the minimum wage, especially with it increasing as often as it is. The SB 280 bill allows smaller businesses to have until January 1, 2028, to reach wages of $15. There was also a slightly different version of the bill, called HB 166. It requires that all businesses reach $15 by 2025. SB 280 is better for many businesses so that they have time to work out the new money situation, but some people prefer to get it done with HB 166.
Both bills allow the Board of Public Works to temporarily suspend an increase, if it only happens once, determining as of October 1, 2020, and each year afterwards until October 1, 2024. This would seasonally adjust the total employment for the most recent six months, and is negative as compared with the immediately preceding six month period. If so, the remaining increases will be delayed by one year.
Both bills require that the annual increases in state funding (savings that the state keeps to do things like rebuild roads or other things that help the state) of 4 percent go to providers of nursing homes, private duty nursing, medical day cares, and personal care and Home-and-Community-Based services provided through the Community First Choice Program. This is to help them pay the higher minimum wage. But, these don’t necessarily make up the full cost of the required minimum wage increases. As it says in Epstein Becker Green’s article called “Maryland Poised to Increases Minimum Wage to $15” by Brain W. Steinbach, “the Senate bill provides slightly higher annual increases than the House bill for reimbursements of health and human services organizations such as those that serve people with disabilities or offer addiction treatment.” Because paying such a high minimum wage is hard on businesses, the government helps out by paying part of the minimum wage for these types of centers.
To many people, employees getting more money sounds like a good thing. As the minimum wage goes up, businesses have to pay employees more. Because the amount is so high, businesses have to start letting people go. They don’t have enough to pay their entire staff.
Many people are for Minimum Wage increase, while many are against it. It’s good for employees who get the extra money, but bad for the businesses who have to pay their employees more, and bad for employees that get fired.
Article by Kaylee A. Tasin of Cabin John Middle School
Graphic by Sophia Li of Takoma Park Middle School