ANNAPOLIS, Md. - One step closer to becoming law, Maryland's House of Delegates said "yes" to raising Maryland's minimum wage on Friday.
There are a number of changes to the bill which would raise the wage 75 cents every year until it reaches the $15 cap by 2025.
Some of those changes include removing a proposal to get rid of tipped credit that would affect tipped workers. Employers can also choose to pay 85-percent of the minimum wage to employees under 18-years old. The bill exempts agricultural workers as well as certain healthcare workers. The exempted healthcare workers would instead receive a pay raise through the Governor's budget.
Sitting side by side in an Annapolis delegation room Friday morning, Eastern Shore lawmakers are now taking sides on the House-approved bill.
"We made good changes but still there's some other things that need to be addressed in the bill," Republican Delegate Johnny Mautz of District 37B said.
Mautz, who voted against the bill, worries the yearly 75 cent increase may be too aggressive for business owners on the Eastern Shore, like Buzz Carragher of Salisbury Cycle, who says raised wages would raise costs for him and ultimately his customers.
"I think it's a bad idea," Carragher said.
Most Eastern Shore Delegates voted against the bill, citing impacts to small businesses especially in rural areas with lower living costs. But Democratic Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes, who supported the bill, argues living costs in places like Salisbury and Ocean City are becoming more and more comparable to living costs in cities on the Western Shore like Baltimore.
"It's not the end all be all. We still have more work to do," Sample-Hughes said.
Some also feel a higher wage will motivate workers.
"If you pay a person a decent wage, they don't mind coming to work and doing a good job," Malcom Smith, a Salisbury native, said.
Now cleared in the House, the minimum wage bill heads next to the Senate before reaching Republican Governor Larry Hogan. Hogan has already expressed concern over raising the minimum wage in Maryland.