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 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 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 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 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...

By Roy Maurer
SHRM HR News, February 5, 2019

Congressional Democrats' recently announced plan to raise the federal minimum wage has reset the stage for an enduring argument: Do minimum-wage increases lead to more prosperity or fewer jobs for low-wage earners? Democrats in the House and Senate introduced legislation Jan. 16 that would gradually increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour over the next five years. ...

Advocates: Higher Wages Can Be Good for Business

... A minimum-wage increase would boost the economy, said Holly Sklar, the CEO of Business for a Fair...