Maryland put its minimum wage on the path to $15 an hour when its state legislature on Thursday overrode a veto by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.
Maryland would be the sixth state to set a minimum wage of $15.
The Maryland House of Delegates voted 96-43 for the override, 14 more votes than were needed. The State Senate vote was 35-12, six more votes than were needed. An override vote was expected to win given the strong Democratic tilt of the statehouse.
[Related: Unions step up push for $15 minimum wage in Congress]
The state’s current minimum wage of $10.10 rate will be raised in increments and reach $15 in 2025. It joins New York, New Jersey, Illinois, California, Massachusetts, and the District of Columbia, which are phasing in the same rate.
“We are obviously disappointed that the Legislature completely ignored the governor’s reasonable compromise proposal to protect jobs and small businesses. So much for olive branches,” Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci told the Baltimore NBC affiliate.
Hogan vetoed the bill Wednesday, saying that that a $15 rate would “cost us jobs, negatively impact our economic competitiveness, and devastate our state’s economy.”
Supporters of the increase said that it was necessary to help the state’s poorer residents. “We have to do something. Doing nothing is unacceptable,” Del. C.T. Wilson, D-Charles County, told the Baltimore Sun.
