Despite being out of the public discussion for weeks, the issue of raising the minimum wage for state contract workers heated up again Wednesday after Gov. Martin O?Malley began lobbying lawmakers.
“I think it can be a good bill ? my hope is we get it in a shape where the body will strongly support the bill,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Thomas Middleton, D-Charles County, who has not always been supportive of living wage legislation.
Middleton said he agreed to look at this year?s proposal, which raises the minimum wage on state contracts to $11.95 per hour for projects worth at least $100,000, when O?Malley and his staff began reaching out. O?Malley called for the passage of living wage legislation in an unscripted section of his State of the State address in January.
Lawmakers, including Middleton and Senate PresidentThomas Mike Miller, D-Calvert, said $11 per hour could be too big a hike for employers in more rural areas of the state. In response, Middleton said the governor and the General Assembly could come to a compromise that creates different living wage scales for urban and rural areas. The compromise could also allow employers to reduce worker salaries if they also provide benefits like health insurance and retirement savings plans.
With three days left in the 90-day General Assembly session that will end at midnight Tuesday, lawmakers might still have time to push through a bill if a compromise can be reached.
“If you get the giants aligned, it?s amazing how fast things can move,” Middleton said, referring to O?Malley, Miller and House Speaker Michael Busch.
Busch said the idea of a two-tiered living wage system was “worth at least exploring,” but would not say whether the bill would come up for a vote in the House this session.
He said he supported a living wage proposal during Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich?s administration, and said a statewide living wage bill would make sense considering that most of the state?s largest jurisdictions, including Prince George?s and Montgomery counties and Baltimore City, already have local living wage laws for local public contracts.
