ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The pay rate for social workers who help the developmentally disabled has become a roadblock for the minimum wage bill and legislators hope to reach a resolution in a meeting with the governor’s staff Thursday.

Those service jobs are so demanding that paying near-minimum wage would be unjust, said Sen. Thomas Middleton, D-Charles, who chairs the Finance Committee. He said the wages for those state workers should be kept at a rate above the legal minimum, and that not giving them a little more money would lead to more turnover and affect quality of service.