Maryland lawmakers pass minimum wage increase

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The Maryland General Assembly gave
final approval to incremental increases in the state’s minimum wage over
several years to $10.10 in 2018 and to decriminalize small amounts of
marijuana possession, as the final regular legislative session of Gov.
Martin O’Malley’s tenure ended Monday.
The House of Delegates
voted 87-47 to raise the minimum wage early in the day, sending it to
O’Malley, who made the bill a priority of his last regular legislative
session. Passage of the minimum wage bill won praise from President
Barack Obama.
"Maryland’s important action is a reminder that many
states, cities and counties — as well as a majority of the American
people — are way ahead of Washington on this crucial issue," the
president said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the General Assembly
also passed a bill to decriminalize the possession of less than 10 grams
of marijuana, and O’Malley said he planned to sign it. O’Malley’s
decision marks a change in thinking by the former Baltimore mayor known
for his tough-on-crime stance who is now considering a White House bid
in 2016. O’Malley said when he was a young prosecutor, he once thought
decriminalizing marijuana might undermine the public will that is needed
to fight drug violence.
"I now think that decriminalizing
possession of marijuana is an acknowledgement of the low priority that
our courts, our prosecutors, our police, and the vast majority of
citizens already attach to this transgression of public order and public
health," O’Malley said. "Such an acknowledgement in law might even lead
to a greater focus on far more serious threats to public safety and the
lives of our citizens."
The minimum wage, which was last raised
in 2006, will increase from $7.25 an hour to $8 in January. It will rise
to $8.25 in July 2015; $8.75 in July 2016; $9.25 in July 2017 and
$10.10 in July 2018. All 87 supporters were Democrats.
Republicans
said increases in the minimum wage could result in job losses.
Opponents, including six Democrats, also said the increases will make
Maryland less attractive to businesses that would consider relocating to
the state.
"We are making it so it’s cost prohibitive for jobs to come here," said Delegate Michael
Smigiel, R-Cecil.
The
bill includes a provision to ensure about 18,000 community service
providers who work with the developmentally disabled will make about 30
percent above the minimum wage.
Lawmakers approved a measure to
make medical marijuana available in the state. Medical marijuana has
stalled, because a law enacted last year required academic medical
centers to make the drug available to qualifying patients, but none
stepped forward. The bill passed this year will allow certified doctors
to recommend marijuana for patients with debilitating, chronic and
severe illnesses.
Efforts to overhaul Maryland’s bail hearing
system failed. Maryland’s highest court ordered the state to provide
defense attorneys for poor defendants at initial bail hearings. O’Malley
said he would work with stakeholders toward an approach that had been
backed by Sen. Brian Frosh. That approach would use data on each
defendant, such as criminal history, to assess a person’s risk of
committing more crimes if they were released from jail. O’Malley said he
could issue an executive order to invite jurisdictions to create a
computerized risk-assessment tool.
As a backup measure, next year’s budget has allocated $10 million for paying private attorneys to staff
these bail hearings.
A
measure that would have set aside $18.5 million in film tax credits
failed in the waning hours, despite a visit to Annapolis last month from
actor Kevin Spacey, star of the show "House of Cards." The two-time
Oscar winner greeted lawmakers at a local wine bar to push for the bill
to help the show that is filmed in Maryland.
House Speaker Michael
Busch, D-Anne Arundel, said some lawmakers weren’t happy about a letter
from the show’s production company that threatened to move the show out
of Maryland without more tax credits.
The tax credit program will still have $15 million.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
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