By Teresa Kay Albertson
Des Moines Register, Feb 25, 2019

The owner of an Iowa artisan salami company testified before the U.S. Congress this month in support of raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour. 

Kathy Eckhouse of La Quercia told members of the U.S. House Committee on Education and Labor that workers like the 60 people at her Norwalk cured meats facility deserve to make living wage. 

“We really believe people need to make enough money to live a comfortable life,” she said last week back home in Iowa. 

Eckhouse was invited to Washington, D.C., to...

By Danielle E. Gaines
Maryland Matters, Feb 22, 2019. Also WTOP

As lawmakers consider whether to adopt a $15 minimum wage, some are also asking whether that figure is needed everywhere in Maryland. ...

But supporters of a statewide “Clean 15” bill – without carve-outs for certain industries or regions – said such logic was flawed.

“A state minimum wage that sets lower rates for certain regions would incentivize workers to leave rural communities to seek higher paying jobs in urban areas, making it harder for our rural businesses to hire and retain employees,” said Alissa Barron-Menza...

By Ally Schweitzer
WAMU 88.5, Feb 22, 2019

The debate over Maryland’s minimum wage continued in a Senate committee hearing Thursday, with business owners mounting dueling arguments for and against a proposal that would raise the wage to $15 statewide.

Maryland’s minimum wage is currently $10.10, except in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, where it’s $12 and $11.50, respectively. The “Fight for $15” bill, introduced by Democrats from Baltimore and Prince George’s County, would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2023. ...

Representatives from Vigilante Coffee and a local string of Ace Hardware stores...

By Lowell Melser
WBAL TV NBC, Feb 21, 2019

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The minimum wage fight has made its way to Annapolis....

People on both sides packed Thursday's hearing to plead their cases to lawmakers.

Brian England, who owns an auto repair company at which all 16 of his employees make more than minimum wage, supports the bill, saying it will be better for the economy.

"They have to choose between tires or a battery because they don't have enough money to live on and they're doing two or three jobs. So, if you raise that...

By Sara Swann
Salisbury Daily Times for Delmarva Now, Feb 21, 2019

... Democratic lawmakers in Maryland are pushing for a landmark minimum wage increase to $15 an hour by 2023. ... The reason for this latest push for a higher minimum wage, advocates say, is because $10.10 per hour doesn't go far enough to cover living expenses.

Bringing the rate up to $15 an hour would ... allow for additional spending, which would strengthen the economy, said Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage.

"We want to see a minimum wage...

By Tim Shelley
25 News NBC, Week Television, Feb 19, 2019

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WEEK) — Gov. JB Pritzker has signed a bill into law which will raise the Illinois minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. Senate Bill 1 will gradually increase the minimum wage from the current $8.25 an hour to $15 an hour. The first wage hike is set to go into effect on Jan. 1 of next year, when the minimum wage will increase to $9.25 an hour. ...

One business owner in favor of the minimum wage increase is Robert...

Rich Miller, Capitol Fax, Feb 19, 2019

* Gov. JB Pritzker signed the $15 an hour minimum wage bill into law today. The react I’ve received so far is all from supporters. ...

* Business for a Fair Minimum Wage…

Illinois business owners say the new $15 minimum wage, signed into law today by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, will be good for business.

Business owners ranging from restaurant owners to manufacturers support raising the minimum wage because it will help businesses, communities and the economy as workers have more money to spend. What’s more, businesses will benefit from...

By Greg Ellison
Ocean City Today (MD), Feb 14, 2019

This years’ edition of Maryland’s “Fight for Fifteen” Minimum Wage Bill ... generated roughly eight hours of testimony from more than 160 witnesses during its first House Committee hearing last Friday in Annapolis. Del. Diana Fennell (D-47, Prince George’s) and Sen. Cory McCray (D-45, Baltimore) revived the wage issue during 2019 by sponsoring cross-filed HB 166 and SB 280, which seek to raise the minimum wage to $11 per hour later this year, and then add $1 each year until reaching $15 in 2023. ...

Christopher...

By Pamela Wood and Lorraine Mirabella
The Baltimore Sun, Feb 11, 2019

Thousands of Maryland workers and business owners stand to be affected if state lawmakers raise the minimum wage from $10.10 per hour to $15. ... The proposal before lawmakers would raise the minimum wage to $11 per hour this summer, with a dollar increase each year after until it reaches $15. ...

Here’s a look at how some workers and business owners are viewing the issue.

Aaron Seyedian: Cleaning with a mission

Aaron Seyedian moved to Washington, D.C., to make a difference in the world, and when...

Maryland Reporter, State Roundup, February 11, 2019

WAGE HIKE DEBATED: Maryland lawmakers heard hours of conflicting testimony Friday on whether to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. ...

• Businesses are not monolithic in their views on the proposal and some supporters say opponents are “voices of fear.” Ned Atwater, owner of six restaurants, called for passage of the increases and said it would drive down turnover and training costs for employers, Bryan Sears writes in the Daily Record. The bill proposes increasing the state’s minimum wage to $11 on July 1. The...

By Brenden Moore
State Journal-Register, Feb 10, 2019 

After years of working various jobs in retail and food service, Springfield resident Laquesha Russell last year found her calling as a home health aide for Help at Home. ... Russell, along with 1.4 million low-wage workers in Illinois — or about 23 percent of the state’s workforce — could be in line for a raise in the coming years as state lawmakers debate raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025. ...

Amazon set its starting rate for U.S. workers at $15 per hour last year. In a tweet congratulating...

By Kate Ryan
WTOP FM, February 8, 2019

WASHINGTON — Efforts to get a $15 an hour minimum wage in Maryland by 2024 went into high gear Friday as members of a House panel heard from dozens of people on both sides of the issue. ...

The committee also heard from business owners who support the bill. Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president at Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, said her group represents businesses that support the “Fight for Fifteen.”

Barron-Menza said small businesses are already losing out to big-box stores who pay above the state minimum...

By Holden Wilen
Baltimore Business Journal, Feb 8, 2019

... The marquee proposal of this year's legislative session in Annapolis took center stage Friday as 174 advocates, business owners, trade associations and other groups testified for and against a bill to raise Maryland's minimum wage. The Economic Matters Committee's hearing room reached capacity and many others filled the hallway outside to pitch lawmakers on whether or the minimum wage should be raised.

House Bill 166 would raise the statewide minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2023 and then tie it to the Consumer Price Index. ...Maryland last passed...

By Ally Schweitzer
WAMU 88.5, Feb 8, 2019

With battles over the minimum wage temporarily on hold in D.C. and Virginia, the epicenter of the regional fight has shifted to Annapolis, Maryland. ...

Some business owners have also expressed support for the proposal, saying higher wages often benefit employers in the long run.

“Paying fair wages helps us attract and retain good employees, increase sales, expand our business and hire more people,” hardware store owner Gina Schaefer said in a statement from Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a group that favors raising the...

By Bryan P. Sears
Daily Record, Feb 8, 2019

ANNAPOLIS — A fight to increase Maryland’s minimum wage to $15 per hour is pitting businesses across the state against each other, including some well-known restaurants.

Advocates of the increase say it will provide a livable wage to workers at the low rungs of the economic ladder who are struggling to make a living in one of the most expensive states in the nation. And while a number of business owners say the increase will reduce training costs, increase worker satisfaction and move them off social...