Maryland set to increase minimum wage to $15 over governor’s opposition

Maryland lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favor of increasing the state’s minimum wage to $15.

Both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly passed the legislation with enough votes to override an expected veto from GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, according to The Baltimore Sun.

The bill would increase the state’s hourly minimum wage from its current level of $10.10 to $15 by 2025. The rate will go up to $11 in 2020 and then increase incrementally by 75 cents until it reaches $14 in 2024. The final year will see a $1 increase.

{mosads}Companies with fewer than 15 employees will be given an extra year to reach the $15 rate.

Hogan has argued that such an increase to the minimum wage will hurt Maryland’s economy, especially as neighboring states still adhere to the federal $7.25 minimum rate.

The governor, who is in his second term, has proposed an increase to $12.10 per hour over two years, according to the Sun.

The bill would bring Maryland in line with Washington D.C. and five other states that have passed measures to bring the minimum wage to $15 in the coming years.

House Democrats earlier this year introduced legislation to gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024.