By John Wagner
Washington Post, March 6, 2014

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said Thursday that he is disappointed that the House of Delegates dropped a provision from his minimum-wage bill that called for automatic increases based on inflation and said he will lobby the Senate to restore it. O’Malley’s bill, which faces a final vote in the House on Friday, would gradually raise Maryland’s minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 by 2017. The provision struck by the House would have made additional increases automatic after that. ...

His comments came during a broader roundtable...

Office of Governor Martin O'Malley, Release, March 6, 2014

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor O’Malley today toured the Linemark printing plant in Upper Marlboro, Md. and joined a group of business owners for a roundtable discussion to show their support for increasing Maryland’s minimum wage.

Governor O’Malley, as a part of his administration’s ongoing efforts to strengthen and grow Maryland’s middle class, has proposed raising the minimum wage as one of his top priorities for the 2014 legislative session. On Monday, his proposal continued to advance through the General Assembly with a favorable vote from the Economic Matters...

Associated Press (AP)/ CBS Baltimore, March 6, 2014

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Gov. Martin O’Malley visited Upper Marlboro for a discussion with businesses owners who support a minimum wage increase. O’Malley also toured Linemark, a printing and Internet services company, Thursday morning. The roundtable discussion was held at the same location at 10:30 a.m. ...

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By Heesun Wee, Editor, CNBC.com
CNBC, Feb 28, 2014

... The wage fight is vocal and contentious as ever. ...

A case for higher pay

Of course not everyone in the food business opposes higher wages. Proponents include executives at Zingerman's, a delicatessen and food business in Ann Arbor, Mich. The original deli opened about 30 years ago and has since expanded to eight related businesses, employing a permanent staff of more than 600 workers.

Zingerman's has driven sales by investing in employees through subsidized health care and above average wages. "We invest heavily in our staff with...

New York Times Editorial, Feb 27, 2014

Much of the discussion about the Democratic proposal to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2016 has rightly focused on the workers who will clearly benefit from the move. But what about businesses? How would higher wages affect them?

The answer — contrary to a great deal of reflexive hand-wringing by some conservative think tanks and politicians — is surprisingly positive. Scholarly studies and the experience of businesses themselves show that what companies lose when they pay more is often offset by lower turnover and...

By Will Brown
Connecticut Post, Feb 26, 2014. Stamford Advocate, Danbury News Times, Greenwich Time

... Wednesday afternoon, DeLauro, Pelosi and other backers announced they are using a discharge petition to try to pry the minimum-wage increase out of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, where it has languished for nearly a year. ... Such a petition requires a majority vote of the House to successfully move the bill from the committee to the floor. ...

Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.), who filed the petition, said, "That's all we're asking for -- the opportunity to vote on...

Press Release, Feb 26, 2014

Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, Assistant Democratic Leader James Clyburn, and Members of Congress held a press event today to announce a discharge petition on the minimum wage.  Leader Pelosi and House Democratic Members were joined by business owners and advocates who called on Congress to pass H.R. 1010, the Fair Minimum Wage Act, and #RaiseTheWage to $10.10 for millions of Americans.  Below are the Leader’s remarks:

“On behalf of my colleagues behind me and across the aisle here, I want to thank...

By Steve Raabe
The Denver Post,  02/26/2014

Raising the U.S. minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would improve the economy as well as living conditions for hundreds of thousands of Coloradans, a federal official said Wednesday at a Denver event. 

"It has a positive economic impact," said Laura Fortman, deputy administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor's wage and hour division. "These (minimum-wage) workers are not investing their money in offshore accounts," Fortman said. "They are paying rent and buying groceries. If they have some extra disposable income, maybe they'll take the family out for a...

By Deirdre Walsh, CNN Senior Congressional Producer
CNN, February 26, 2014

... House Democrats filed what is known as a "discharge petition" on Wednesday. If they get a majority of members to sign it, Republican leaders must put the Democratic bill increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour on the floor. Even if all 199 House Democrats signed the petition, it would take roughly 18 Republicans to defy their leaders and press for a vote. ...

Even though Congress isn't likely to pass anything this year, a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll showed...

By Seung Min Kim
Politico, February 25, 2014

House Democrats will formally launch a discharge petition Wednesday on raising the federal minimum wage ... House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will lead an event Wednesday afternoon flanked by her top deputies, rank-and-file Democrats, and business owners and advocates to make the case for legislation that would phase in a federal minimum wage increase to $10.10 per hour within two years. A discharge petition is a procedural maneuver that allows the minority party to force a vote on the House floor.

The event will “call on Congress...

Op-Ed By Gina Schaefer
Capital Gazette (Annapolis), Feb 25, 2014

It didn’t take long after my husband and I opened our first hardware store in 2003 for people to start coming in and asking us to open in their neighborhood, too.

By 2009, we had grown to six Ace Hardware stores in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., with our seventh store opening in 2010 in Takoma Park. The next year, Old Takoma Ace Hardware was one of four stores, out of 4,500 locally-owned and operated Ace Hardware stores worldwide, to win the “Coolest Hardware Store” award...

Letter to the Editor By David Borris
Daily Herald (IL), 2/22/2014

A Feb. 12 letter in the Daily Herald criticized Sen. Dick Durbin, President Obama and Gov. Pat Quinn for supporting a minimum-wage increase, claiming that doing so will be bad for business. I’m the owner of a thriving small business with 25 full-time and 80 part-time and seasonal workers. I pay all of my employees a living wage, and I’m here to tell you that letter writer is wrong.

The current bill in Congress will raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour over...

By Amanda Yeager
Baltimore Sun and Howard County Times, February 20, 2014

Brian England and Pete Mangione both own businesses that have been Howard County institutions for three decades. They both say they care deeply about employees. But when it comes to whether or not state legislators should raise the minimum wage, they — like many other business leaders in Maryland — don't see eye to eye.

A state bill seeking to raise the minimum wage in Maryland for the first time since 2009, from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour by 2016, has backing...

By Diana Reese
Washington Post, Feb 20, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Two small business owners who decided it was only fair to pay their employees more than the minimum wage were given “Bacon Awards” in a sidewalk ceremony Wednesday by Organizing for Action – Missouri, a nonpartisan social advocacy group. Supporters gathered in Kansas City’s charming Brookside neighborhood to honor Pam Hausner, owner of Big Vision Media Group, a small marketing agency and certified B corporation, and Jeremy Neff, who with his wife Stacy owns One More Cup, a socially-conscious coffee shop. Both were presented with...

By Eric Morath, Damian Paletta and Carol E. Lee
Wall Street Journal, Feb 20, 2014

... Some business owners say they favor a wage increase. David Bolotsky, chief executive at Uncommon Goods, a Brooklyn, N.Y., online retailer, said boosting the minimum wage would give consumers more money to spend. He backs a proposal advanced by Democrats in Congress that ties future increases to inflation. "That gives me certainty, and that's most important when running a business," he said.

The U.S. government has had a minimum wage since 1938, and it has been raised close to...