ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Maryland General Assembly has given final approval to raising the state’s minimum wage from $10.10 to $15 an hour by 2025.
The House and Senate voted Wednesday for a compromise. That sends the bill to Gov. Larry Hogan, who opposes the measure. The House and Senate passed the bill with enough votes to override a veto.
At a news conference this week, Hogan said a $15 minimum wage would make Maryland “incapable of competing with other states in the region,” and that lawmakers should not “consign tens of thousands of our most vulnerable Maryland citizens to the unemployment lines.”
The governor’s office said Wednesday that Hogan will carefully review the legislation when it reaches his desk.
The minimum wage would increase to $11 in January. It would then go up 75 cents a year to $14 in 2024, and then reach $15 in the following year.
The bill gives companies with less than 15 employees more time to phase in the increase. After reaching $11 next year, the minimum wage would go up 60 cents a year, and those businesses would not pay $15 an hour until July 2026.
WTOP’s John Aaron contributed to this report.
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