Raise the Minimum Wage in Maryland
- by: Working Families
Maryland is the richest state in the country, but at $7.25 an hour, it has the lowest minimum wage -- the bare federal minimum. 21 states, including Montana and Missouri, guarantee a higher wage than Maryland does.
It's impossible to survive on the minimum wage in Maryland. Even full-time, that adds up to just $15,000 per year. In a state as rich as ours, nobody who works full time should have to struggle to get by.
But this is the year we can change that. With the Raise Maryland bill, we can raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and lift half a million low-wage workers and their families out of poverty.
Sign our petition to tell state legislators in Annapolis: Maryland workers deserve a raise -- increase the minimum wage!
The Raise Maryland bill will lift the economy out of its slump as low wage workers have more money to spend in their communities. And by indexing the minimum wage to the cost of living, the bill ensures workers won't take home less in value over time.
But raising the minimum wage won't be easy. You can bet mega-companies like Walmart and McDonald's who make big profits off the back of their low-wage employees will fight to keep paying poverty wages.
It will take a grassroots outcry to convince the Maryland state legislature that it's time to act, and with the legislative session ending in just a few weeks, we have to act fast.
Please join us in asking your state lawmakers to step up and give Maryland families a raise.
It's impossible to survive on the minimum wage in Maryland. Even full-time, that adds up to just $15,000 per year. In a state as rich as ours, nobody who works full time should have to struggle to get by.
But this is the year we can change that. With the Raise Maryland bill, we can raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and lift half a million low-wage workers and their families out of poverty.
Sign our petition to tell state legislators in Annapolis: Maryland workers deserve a raise -- increase the minimum wage!
The Raise Maryland bill will lift the economy out of its slump as low wage workers have more money to spend in their communities. And by indexing the minimum wage to the cost of living, the bill ensures workers won't take home less in value over time.
But raising the minimum wage won't be easy. You can bet mega-companies like Walmart and McDonald's who make big profits off the back of their low-wage employees will fight to keep paying poverty wages.
It will take a grassroots outcry to convince the Maryland state legislature that it's time to act, and with the legislative session ending in just a few weeks, we have to act fast.
Please join us in asking your state lawmakers to step up and give Maryland families a raise.
Dear [legislator]:
I urge you to take action to raise Maryland's minimum wage and to make that raise meaningful and lasting for low-income workers in our state.
I support Governor Martin O'Malley's bill (HB 295/SB 331)that will raise the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016 and then index it to the cost of living. Indexing will ensure that the wage doesn't lose value over time, thus giving workers a de facto pay cut each year. It also includes a raise for tipped workers, increasing their pay from 50 to 70 percent of the minimum wage.
Almost 500,000 Marylanders would benefit from a raise in the state's minimum wage. Those workers would in turn pump nearly half a billion dollars into Maryland's economy, creating a win-win for our families and communities.
The minimum wage, now set at $7.25 per hour, was last raised in 2009. Since then, prices for food, housing, utilities and other necessities of life have increased while the state's lowest wage hasn't. If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation over the last 40 years, it would be $10.74 per hour today.
Minimum wage workers in Maryland are struggling to make ends meet. And they're not just teenagers saving for college or a first car. Over 88 percent of workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour are at least 20 years old. Nearly one-third are parents and almost half have some college experience.
[Your comments here]
Now is the time for Maryland General Assembly to raise the wage and join the 21 states and the District of Columbia that already have set their wage above the federal rate.
Again, I urge you to support the Raise Maryland bill (HB 295/SB 331) to raise the minimum wage and to oppose any weakening amendments.
I look forward to your response.
Thank you,
[Your name here]
Sign PetitionSign PetitionI urge you to take action to raise Maryland's minimum wage and to make that raise meaningful and lasting for low-income workers in our state.
I support Governor Martin O'Malley's bill (HB 295/SB 331)that will raise the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016 and then index it to the cost of living. Indexing will ensure that the wage doesn't lose value over time, thus giving workers a de facto pay cut each year. It also includes a raise for tipped workers, increasing their pay from 50 to 70 percent of the minimum wage.
Almost 500,000 Marylanders would benefit from a raise in the state's minimum wage. Those workers would in turn pump nearly half a billion dollars into Maryland's economy, creating a win-win for our families and communities.
The minimum wage, now set at $7.25 per hour, was last raised in 2009. Since then, prices for food, housing, utilities and other necessities of life have increased while the state's lowest wage hasn't. If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation over the last 40 years, it would be $10.74 per hour today.
Minimum wage workers in Maryland are struggling to make ends meet. And they're not just teenagers saving for college or a first car. Over 88 percent of workers who would benefit from an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour are at least 20 years old. Nearly one-third are parents and almost half have some college experience.
[Your comments here]
Now is the time for Maryland General Assembly to raise the wage and join the 21 states and the District of Columbia that already have set their wage above the federal rate.
Again, I urge you to support the Raise Maryland bill (HB 295/SB 331) to raise the minimum wage and to oppose any weakening amendments.
I look forward to your response.
Thank you,
[Your name here]
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