ANNAPOLIS, Md — Maryland is now the sixth state in the country to approve a gradual minimum wage increase to $15 per hour.
The General Assembly overrode Governor Larry Hogan's veto of the measure.
Minimum wage will increase from $10.10 per hour to $15 per hour by 2025. The first increase will be to $11 per hour by 2020. Businesses will fewer than 14 employees will have until 2026 to reach $15.
Democrats who control the bill say the increase is needed because the cost of living became expensive for basic needs.
"I think that it's important to recognize that the people that are going to be benefiting from the minimum wage are people that don't always have the money," said Senator Cory McCray. "So they are going to be spending this money in their local grocers, the gas stations, the restaurants that are in our neighborhoods and building our local economy in the state of Maryland."
Governor Hogan says this bill will hurt small businesses, resulting in higher prices for merchandise to cover the increase. He offered a compromise of $12. It was turned down.
