The Maryland House of Delegates yesterday voted to lift the minimum wage by $1 an hour, all but ensuring that legislation aimed at helping thousands of the state's lowest-paid workers will reach Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s desk in coming weeks.
The Senate voted earlier in the session to raise the wage requirement from $5.15 an hour -- the federal level -- to $6.15 an hour. But its legislation would exempt employers who provide health benefits to low-income workers from having to pay the full increase.
The House version does not include such an exemption, but the measure's sponsors said that the two chambers should have little trouble reaching a compromise.
Aides to Ehrlich (R) have said he is concerned that raising the minimum wage would hurt small businesses and prompt them to lay off workers. Asked about the subject at a news conference yesterday, Ehrlich said he found the Senate version preferable but gave no indication as to whether he would sign the bill.
Yesterday's 84 to 50 vote in the House fell one short of the 85 votes needed to override a veto if all members are voting, but several members were absent. The Senate approved its version of the bill by a sufficient margin to overturn a veto.
Del. Ann Marie Doory (D-Baltimore), a sponsor of the House bill, said that she is confident that the House would have enough votes to override an Ehrlich veto and that the difference between the House and Senate versions would not present a major obstacle.
"We had a strong vote today," she said.
The vote was largely along party lines, with eight Democrats siding against the bill and three Republicans voting for it. Debate was lively and lengthy.
"This bill manages to do very little for a tiny number of people at a great cost to many others," said Del. Herbert H. McMillan (R-Anne Arundel), referring to legislative analysts' estimates that the minimum wage change would cost small businesses $67 million next year in increased wages and payroll taxes.
Fiscal analysts say the bill would affect about 55,300 Marylanders, many in the service industry and more than half younger than 25.
"This is a modest, responsible, long-overdue raise for hardworking families in Maryland," said Tom Hucker, executive director of Progressive Maryland, a group that lobbied for the bill. "The governor is going to have a tough choice when the bill gets to his desk. Does he listen to the public or deep-pocketed campaign contributors?"
The legislation is opposed by the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, which has argued that although well-intentioned, it would hurt owners of struggling business owners. During hearings on the bill, several business owners said they were worried that employees making more than the minimum wage would also expect increases if the measure passed.
Currently, 14 states and the District have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum of $5.15, Maryland legislative analysts said. Virginia law requires that workers be paid no less than the federal minimum wage. The Republican-controlled General Assembly did not consider changes this year.
The federal minimum wage, enacted in 1938, was last increased in 1997. Several bills introduced in Congress to raise the amount have failed in recent years.
The District joined three states last year in raising the minimum wage required within their borders. The city's wage climbed from $6.15 to $6.60 in January.
An hourly wage of $5.15 translates into $10,712 a year for a full-time worker.
