By Braden Campbell
Law360, Jan 15, 2019

Congressional Democrats are planning to introduce legislation Wednesday that would gradually lift the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024, setting the stage for what could be a protracted battle over where the national wage floor should be. ...

Although groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Federation of Independent Business have previously opposed a $15 minimum wage, others in the business community are in favor. Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president at Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a business coalition that backs the plan, argued it would benefit small-business owners by boosting their local economies. ...

By Megan Cerullo
CBS News MoneyWatch, Jan 16, 2019

The legal minimum wage for New York City employers with 11 or more workers rose more than 15 percent on Dec. 31, 2018, to $15 per hour from $13, giving fast-food, retail and other employees a bump in pay. ...

Marc Sherry, co-owner of the 1860s-era Old Homestead Steakhouse in Manhattan, said he never considered reducing his staff in response to the wage hike. "The increase in the minimum wage is in effect, but it was never in our business plan to lay off staff because...

By Katie Arcieri and Holden Wilen
Washington Business Journal, Jan 16, 2019

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By Holden Wilen
Baltimore Business Journal, Jan 15, 2019

The fight to raise Maryland's minimum wage to $15 began in earnest Monday with a coalition of lawmakers, advocates and business owners starting their push to pass a bill during the General Assembly's current legislative session. ...

By Pamela Wood
The Baltimore Sun, Jan 14, 2019

Advocates and lawmakers began their push Monday to gradually raise Maryland’s minimum wage to $15 by 2023, a starting point for negotiations on what’s expected to be one of the hottest topics of this year’s General Assembly session.

The state’s minimum wage is currently $10.10 per hour. ...

The advocates for increasing the minimum wage say there are business owners who support the increase. At Monday’s news conference, Brian England, owner of BA Auto Care in Columbia, spoke about how paying his workers more than minimum wage has inspired...

By Danielle E. Gaines
Maryland Matters, Jan 14, 2019

Lawmakers, advocates ― and even some small business owners ― gathered in Annapolis on Monday evening, vowing to push for a $15 minimum wage bill. ...

Alissa Barron-Menza, vice president of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, argued that a higher minimum wage could lead to less employee turnover and greater worker ― and, in return, customer ― satisfaction at small businesses.

“A minimum wage of $10.10 leaves many working Maryalnders without sufficient income to meet their basic needs and that’s bad for Maryland businesses. Workers...

By Christian M. Wade
Haverhill Gazette, Jan 10, 2019

...  Wages are rising for hundreds of thousands of workers in Massachusetts in the new year, with the first of five annual increases bumping up the state's minimum wage to $12 per hour. ... This year's increase is the first of several annual hikes that will bring the state's minimum wage up to $15 per hour by 2023. ...

some business groups say hiking the minimum wage is not only the right thing to do, but that it also makes economic sense.

"It leads to more spending...

By Tom Dempsey
KSHB-TV, Kansas City’s 41 Action News, Jan 02, 2019

WATCH VIDEO

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A minimum wage increase went into effect across all of Missouri on Tuesday, months after voters in the state approved a measure with more 60 percent support. The change increases minimum wage 75 cents from $7.85 to $8.60 an hour.

At Brewery Emperial in the Crossroads, owner Julie Thompson said the new rate [the brewery raised entry pay earlier] was already helping with hiring at the location.

CNN Early Start, Jan 2, 2019

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's get a check on "CNN Business" this morning.

Minimum wages are rising in 2019. ... Minimum wage workers from Maine to Missouri to Arizona will see bumps in their paychecks immediately.

According to Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, business owners across the country say these increases will boost consumer spending, reduce employee turnover, increase productivity and customer satisfaction, and help the economy.

But even as some states raise the minimum wage, the federal minimum has been stuck at $7.25 for the past decade. ...

Read more

KATV ABC 7, Jan 2, 2019

LITTLE ROCK (TALK BUSINESS AND POLITICS) -- As the new year gets underway, many Arkansans will be among the millions of workers across the U.S. getting a wage hike ...

In Arkansas, voters overwhelmingly supported Issue 5 during the Nov. 6 election, approving a 75 cent per hour wage hike from last year’s $8.50 an hour for many workers across the state. Under the initiated act that was supported by the Business for a Fair Minimum Wage coalition and other progressive groups across the state, that standard will then...

By Wesley Brown
Talk Business & Politics, Jan 1, 2018

As the new year gets underway, many Arkansans will be among the millions of workers across the U.S. getting a wage hike ...

In Arkansas, voters overwhelmingly supported Issue 5 during the Nov. 6 election, approving a 75 cent per hour wage hike from last year’s $8.50 an hour for many workers across the state. Under the initiated act that was supported by the Business for a Fair Minimum Wage coalition and other progressive groups across the state, that standard will then rise to $10 in...

By Christian M. Wade, Statehouse Reporter
Salem News/North of Boston Media Group, Dec 31, 2018. Also in Eagle Tribune, Gloucester Daily Times, more

Wages will be rising for hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers in Massachusetts in the New Year, with the first of five annual increases bumping up the state's minimum wage to $12 per hour beginning Tuesday. ... This year's increase is the first of several annual hikes that will bring the state's wage floor up to $15 per hour by 2023. ...

Still, some business groups say hiking the minimum wage is not only the right thing to do, it also makes economic sense.

"It leads to more spending at every level, from purchases of food and school supplies, to rent and car repairs, to the occasional meal out with the family," said Holly Sklar, CEO of Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national advocacy group. "Minimum wage increases also pay off for businesses in lower employee turnover, reduced hiring and training costs, lower error rates, increased productivity and better customer service.” ...

By Shahla Farzan
St. Louis Public Radio, Dec 30, 2018

The new year means an increase to Missouri's minimum wage ... Starting Jan. 1, the minimum wage will increase from $7.85 an hour to $8.60. The raise comes after voters approved Proposition B in November, which calls for boosting the state’s minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2023. ...

St. Louis business owner Joe Edwards, who supports the higher wage, said it’s important to him to treat workers with “respect and consideration.”

“A person can’t survive on $7.85 an hour, even if they work...

Athol Daily News, Dec 28, 2018

BOSTON – On January 1, 2019, 662,000 low-wage workers in Massachusetts will get a raise when the state’s minimum wage rises from $11 to $12 an hour, the first of five annual increases laid out in legislation passed this spring that will bring the minimum wage to $15 an hour in 2023. Also on January 1, the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers will rise from $3.75 to $4.35 an hour. ...

According to the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, this year’s minimum wage increase will raise the wages of...

By Jordan Larimore
Joplin Globe, Dec 27, 2018

As of next Tuesday, Missouri is set to become one of the more than one-third of states to have raised the minimum wage in the past calendar year. Voters in Missouri and Arkansas approved increases in the states' minimum wages in November, and as many as 18 others have passed either ballot initiatives or bills to do the same.

The increase that passed in Missouri this year will result in staggered annual increases on Jan. 1 until the minimum wage reaches $12 per hour in 2023. The ballot...