Democrats in Maryland just overrode the governor’s veto of the $15 minimum wage bill.
By Alexia Fernández Campbell
Mar 28, 2019, 2:20pm EDT
Maryland just became the sixth state to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
On Thursday, lawmakers managed to override Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a minimum wage bill. Maryland’s current minimum wage is $10.10, and the new policy willgradually raise the wage floor to $15 by 2025.
Hogan had blocked the bill earlier this week, claiming that such a change would “devastate” the economy. But it was clear early on that he would be unable to stop the national momentum building around a $15 minimum wage.
Democrats control both chambers in Maryland’s General Assembly, and passed the wage hike bill with a veto-proof majority. On Thursday, they overwhelming voted to override Hogan’s veto by 96-43 in the House and 35-12 in the Senate.
Maryland is now the third state to phase in a $15 minimum wage so far this year, and the sixth overall. In February, New Jersey and Illinois did so, too.
While Hogan’s veto was not surprising (he has always opposed a $15 minimum), it’s a striking position in a state where the $15 minimum wage is so popular with voters in Maryland and across the country.
The law will benefit about 573,000 workers in Maryland who currently earn less than $15 -about 22 percent of the state’s workforce, according to the National Employment Law Project.