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Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has signed the nation's first statewide "living wage" law, a measure that requires state contractors to pay workers $11.30 an hour in Baltimore and other areas where it is more expensive to live and at least $8.50 in the rest of the state.
O'Malley, a Democrat, said he pushed for the legislation to make sure that people who work on a contract funded by the state will be treated "in a fair and just and decent way, so that you will be able to put food on your family's table for your day of labor on behalf of the people of our state."
"It's the right thing to do," O'Malley said. "It's the fair thing to do."
The law, which will take effect in October, was cheered by labor and civil rights groups. It is modeled on local laws across the country, but advocacy groups say it is the first statewide law. It affects contracts worth at least $100,000 and includes loopholes for the University System of Maryland and some other state agencies, such as the Maryland State Lottery. The wage requirement also wouldn't apply to 16-year-olds or nonprofits.
The measure allows employers to reduce the amount they have to pay workers if they pay for health insurance for affected employees.
Sean Dobson, director of a grassroots organization called Progressive Maryland that represents working families, applauded the governor and state leaders for making Maryland the first state to approve the law, saying it's an effective way to fight poverty.
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"It's gratifying to see that lawmakers ended up listening to the thousands of constituents who voiced support for this bill," said Dobson, whose organization joined with labor and civil rights groups to lobby for a measure that faced obstacles in the legislature.
While Maryland is the first to approve a statewide living wage law, several other states are considering it, and 145 cities and counties have some sort of law already on the books.
Many Republicans resisted the measure in the Democrat-controlled legislature, taking issue with the provision that some areas of the state would have higher wages than others. Rural areas are where the $8.50 wage applies. The Maryland chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business also opposed the bill, saying it would hurt small businesses.
In 1994, Baltimore became the first city to require the higher wage, and living wages now are required by more than 100 cities nationwide. Maryland Democrats passed a similar measure in 2004, but it was vetoed by then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich, a Republican. Democrats didn't attempt to override the veto, opting instead to raise the state's minimum wage $1 to $6.15 and passing that bill over another Ehrlich veto.
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