Minimum wage increase likely to go forward, despite opposition

Maryland’s next increase to the minimum wage, scheduled for Jan. 1, is likely to move forward as planned, despite efforts to put the brakes on it due to the coronavirusfueled economic downturn.

The state has the authority to put a one-year pause in the increases, as the minimum wage gradually rises to $15 per hour.

But two of the three people charged with making that decision said Tuesday that the next wage increase needs to go forward — from the current $11 per hour to $11.75 at large companies and $11.60 at small companies.

Pausing the wage increase would be “unjust to the lowest-wage workers in the economy and I think would also omit an opportunity to make a good move for the economy as a whole,” said state Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp.

Kopp, a Democrat, is a member of the state Board of Public Works, which can put a one-time-only pause on the schedule of minimum wage increases when employment prospects are bleak.

Another board member, Comptroller Peter Franchot, also plans to support keeping the wage increase.

“Comptroller Franchot is committed to maintaining the current implementation schedule in the increase in the minimum wage,” said Susan O’Brien, a spokeswoman for the Democratic comptroller.

The third board member is Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican whose office did not respond to questions Tuesday about the minimum wage.

The governor has opposed the $15 wage in the past. Hogan vetoed the minimum wage increase in 2019, and was promptly overridden by lawmakers in the Democratled General Assembly. He had proposed instead an increase that would have bumped the minimum wage up to an eventual $12.10 per hour.

No formal proposal was made this spring to pause the wage increase, but the three board members have heard from advocates on both sides. Business groups argued companies can’t afford to pay higher wages, while labor and liberal groups said lowwage workers need a pay boost now more than ever.

“When the minimum wage debate was going on, Democratic leaders put this safety valve in the legislation for reasons exactly like what we are facing right now,” said Mike

O’Halloran, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business.

Democratic leaders have acknowledged the economy is in rough shape, but urged the Board of Public Works to stay the course.

“While we included a statutory pause in the law, we do not believe now is the time to stop this increase — even though our state’s economy is struggling,” wrote House of Delegates Speaker Adrienne A. Jones and other top Democrats in a letter to Board of Public Works members.