Although I am pleased that legislation to increase the minimum wage to $10.10 has passed the Maryland House of Delegates, I am very disturbed that provisions were removed from the bill that would have increased the minimum wage for tipped workers. The bill that passed the House of Delegates freezes tipped workers' base wages at $3.63 per hour. This means that the minimum wage would increase for all workers except those that work for tips. Under the current bill thousands of bartenders, waiters and other service industry employees would be deprived of the benefits of a minimum wage increase. We cannot raise the wage for some and freeze it for others. This is why I have partnered with Congresswoman Donna Edwards, Raise Maryland, UFCW Local 400 and other groups to lobby the Maryland Senate to increase the base pay for tipped workers to 70 percent of the minimum wage. I encourage you to call, email and write your state senators and ask them to restore the minimum wage increase for Maryland's tipped workers.
