By Kelcie Pegher
Carroll County Times, January 5, 2014

Politicians in Maryland ready for the January legislative session are preparing for one fight in particular: the battle over whether to raise the minimum wage.

While the minimum wage has remained at $7.25 per hour since 2009, support is growing for a higher minimum wage. In Maryland, two counties voted to bring the minimum wage up to $11.50 per hour by 2017.
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It’s easy to think of how difficult raising the minimum wage would be for one business, said Richard Torgerson, a registered principal for the Financial West Group in Westminster and a member of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage. “If one single businessman is faced with the idea of raising their own wages for their own employees, but nobody else does, that very well could be unaffordable. If everyone does it, the number of customers that have more money outweighs the number of employees that [are paid] more,” he said.

Though his branch of Financial West Group does not have any minimum wage jobs, Torgerson specializes in socially responsible investing.

He said raising the minimum wage could help the overall economy because it would give workers more money in their pockets.

“If you’re a shopkeeper at the TownMall down the street, one out of every five shoppers that walk by your store would have more money in their pocket,” he said. “That’s got to translate to higher sales revenue for your shop.”

Business for a Fair Minimum Wage has petitions in five states and nationally to raise the minimum wage to a higher average. In Maryland, the petition is for $10 per hour by 2016.

“You have to be able to take a look at the whole economy rather than your particular situation this week,” he said.

Copyright 2014 Carroll County Times