By Bob Salsberg
Associated Press (AP), April 14, 2018

BOSTON — Democratic legislative leaders and Republican Gov. Charlie Baker are hoping to reach deals that would keep some prospective ballot questions from reaching voters in November, but they're running short on time and their bargaining clout appears limited.

One initiative petition filed by Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition that includes unions, community activists and clergy, would gradually raise the state's minimum wage from the current $11 an hour to $15 an hour by 2022. It would also raise the hourly sub-minimum wage for tipped workers, such...

By Katie Johnston
Boston Globe, April 10, 2018

Small business owners grappling with proposals to raise the minimum wage and mandate paid leave expressed their frustrations to business leaders and state lawmakers Tuesday morning ... At issue are bills to raise the state minimum wage from $11 to $15 an hour, and the tipped minimum wage from $3.75 to $9, by 2022, and require businesses to give employees up to 16 weeks of paid family leave for the birth or adoption of a child and up to 26 weeks of paid medical leave for serious injuries or illnesses. If lawmakers fail...

Letter to Editor By Annebeth Bunker, Owner, Annebeth's
Capital Gazette, April 4, 2018

Before Maryland’s legislative session draws to a close, lawmakers can still take action to support Maryland businesses and workers by raising the state’s minimum wage.

As a small retail store owner, I know how important good employees are to the success and stability of a business. This year, we’re celebrating 20 years serving customers on historic Maryland Avenue in Annapolis. We rely on our employees to open and close our shop, take good care of our customers and uphold our reputation.

Fair...

By Christopher Fenn
The American Agora, April 2, 2018

Reflecting a national trend, Washington DC is scheduled to raise its minimum wage later this year from $12.50 to $13.25 per hour, or a 6% increase. This minimum wage hike was set forth in a 2016 bill signed by Mayor Muriel Bowser that laid forth a plan for Washington to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour over a period of four years by increasing the minimum wage approximately $0.70 per year. While dozens of states and cities throughout the United States have adopted similar measures, the issue...

By Ned Atwater
Baltimore Sun, Letter to the Editor, March 28, 2018

In the final days of Maryland’s legislative session, lawmakers have an opportunity to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 by 2023 and phase out the tipped sub-minimum wage by 2025. As a restaurant owner, I know the increases will be good for business, good for Baltimore and beneficial to our state (“Raising the Md. minimum wage would stabilize families — and destabilize the underground economy,” Jan. 31).

Over 20 years, our business has grown to six locations and 225 employees. Our staff...

Op-Ed By Gina Schaefer
Baltimore Business Journal, March 21, 2018

When my husband and I opened our first hardware store in 2003, we were focused on the need for a great store in our own neighborhood.

Fifteen years later, we’ve grown to 12 neighborhood hardware stores across Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia, including Canton Ace Hardware, Federal Hill Ace Hardware and Waverly Ace Hardware in Baltimore. Fair pay has been fundamental to our successful business model and our growth — including during the last recession.

That’s why we support the proposal to gradually raise Maryland’s...

By Michelle Shvimer
Daily Free Press, March 21, 2018

Nearly 300 people gathered to spread a message to their legislators demanding job-protected paid leave and a $15 minimum wage at Boston’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral Tuesday night. ...

Raise Up MA members and supporters counteracted the idea that teenagers should be exempt from the rise in minimum wage during the meeting.

Michael Kanter, the co-founder of Cambridge Naturals, a retail health store, said he is against the idea of a lower minimum wage for teenagers.

“Many teenagers work to take care of their families, save up...

By Steven H. Foskett Jr. 
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, March 20, 2018

WORCESTER - Activists on a statewide “briefing tour” stopped at Belmont A.M.E. Zion Church on Illinois Street Tuesday night to show members of the legislative delegation their continued commitment to raising the minimum wage and providing paid family and medical leave. Organized by Raise Up Massachusetts, the briefing featured testimony from workers and families who would benefit from raising the minimum wage in the state from $11 an hour to $15 an hour, and who would be able to take advantage of a paid...

Columbus Radio Group, March 14, 2018

COLUMBUS – Democratic lawmakers want to give Ohio’s lowest-paid workers a raise, though the proposal faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Statehouse. The legislators, flanked by workers’ advocates and progressive policy experts, announced a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage in 50-cent-an-hour steps to $15 per hour over the next seven years. ...

Business groups have already weighed in with their opposition despite a 2014 survey the lawmakers cited, from the American Sustainable Business Council and Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, which found that small business owners...

Fall River Reporter, March 11, 2018

New Bedford, MA – South Coast legislators were met with a message Saturday from the voters gathered at the Carney Academy in New Bedford for a Fall River/New Bedford briefing on paid leave and a $15 minimum wage: “Pass These Bills!” ...

The briefing is part of a statewide tour pushing for passage of paid leave and a $15 minimum wage this spring, with events occurring in the South Coast, Springfield, Lawrence, Worcester, Boston, the North Shore, and Brockton throughout March and early April. Members of the Raise Up...

By Carlos Marquina, March 7, 2018

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland—In a hearing before the House Economic Matters Committee, supporters of a proposed hike in Maryland’s minimum wage argued that the current rate leaves hundreds of thousands of the state’s working families trapped in a cycle of poverty. ...

Story includes Gina Schaefer, owner, A Few Cool Hardware Stores

WATCH VIDEO

By Adam Uzialko
Business.com, Feb 27, 2018

Don't just think of paying more than minimum wage as an expense. It can be an investment in the overall health of your business.

The federal minimum wage, and those mandated by states and localities, represents a requirement for the floor for payment that employers must offer. However, the minimum wage does not always line up with the cost of living in a given area, nor do real wages necessarily rise with productivity or profits.

Many business owners are necessarily concerned with expenses, and fear raising wages could...

By Hank Kalet
NJ Spotlight, Feb 26, 2018

Backers say the benefits of higher minimum wage would benefit both workers and small businesses

... Jon Whiten, vice president of NJPP, a liberal think tank that focuses on economic issues, said during a telephone press conference Thursday that there is a rare "consensus in Trenton" that "raising the minimum wage to a more livable, family-sustaining wage is a top priority." NJPP, hoping to influence the debate and push the state Legislature to move quickly, issued a report Thursday offering data it says supports the need for...

By  Reggie Fullwood 
Jacksonville Free Press, Feb 20, 2018

... We live in the greatest country in the world – a job should be a bridge out of poverty, an opportunity to a make a living from the work or services you provide. But for minimum wage workers, especially those with families, it is not. ...

And for those who think that raising the minimum wage is bad for the economy – that’s nonsense. A number of researchers have found that modestly higher minimum wages can raise incomes for low-wage workers without reducing the number of jobs in...

Op-Ed by Holly Sklar
Philadelphia Inquirer, Feb 9, 2018

This month marks a golden anniversary for wages, but it’s not a happy occasion.

When the federal minimum wage went up 50 years ago in February 1968, it turned out to be the high point in minimum-wage purchasing power for Pennsylvania workers.

Adjusted for the cost of living, the buying power of 1968’s minimum wage of $1.60 an hour is worth $11.53 in today’s dollars, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Inflation Calculator.