$15 minimum wage passed the Maryland House of Delegates mostly down party line after a lengthy debate. Logically this bill makes no sense and has already been a detriment to Maryland’s economy. Small business in neighboring states will now have an unfair labor cost advantage over Maryland small businesses.
On the floor, I spoke against the bill becuase of the "Cliff Effect" this would have on families at this level of income. Allegany County medium household income is 41,000. Benefits to help cover the cost of basic needs are based on Federal poverty levels. The Federal poverty level for a single parent with two children is $20,240 or 9.81 per hour / working 40 hours per week, year around. Please note Maryland can not control this level or amount of the benefit from the Federal government.
Therefore, at 12.60 per hour, food stamps are lost. At 13.54 per hour, straight Medical Assistance is lost. At 14.42 child care subsidies are lost. Our votes have consequences. The result? Parents can earn more without improving their financial situation. The $15 per hour in Allegany County actually will hurt the people the bill stated it was to help, or was it?
Unless Maryland plans to back fill the federal dollars in benefits taken away from this bill, for a worker to avoid the "Cliff Effect" they will need to make $21 per hour to make up the cuts in benefits. So did we really help the people I represent. Maybe in Howard County where the medium household is 140,000 or was that really the intent of the bill to keep the rural counties poor.
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