Tyler Jones
Communications Advisor
443-783-1362
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Lower Shore Progressive Caucus calls on local delegation and General Assembly to raise Minimum Wage.
Fruitland, Maryland - 2/29/23, The Lower Shore Progressive Caucus, is urging the Eastern Shore Delegation and the Maryland General Assembly to stand with Governor Moore and pass the Fair Wage of 2023 Act to raise the minimum wage. As the economy faces two significant issues, the bill offers a solution that will benefit low-wage earners, small businesses, and the local economy.
The first issue facing our economy is that inflation is the highest it has been in over 40 years, and wages are not increasing fast enough to match the rising cost of living. This has resulted in low-wage earners on the Eastern Shore and around the state having to work two to three jobs just to stay afloat. The second issue is that small businesses are struggling to retain employees due to paying lower wages than many large businesses. This puts small businesses at a competitive disadvantage, and many are struggling to find workers due to the low salaries they offer.
The solution to these problems is the passage of this bill because when low-wage earners get a raise, they are most likely to immediately spend that money on basic necessities and goods & services in the local economy. The increased customer base combined with increased spending in the local community will be good for businesses. Data shows that raising wages will boost the economy as we recover from the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. Raising the minimum wage will circulate $2.6 billion in the Maryland economy through increased consumer spending. It will also lift 152,000 children up the economic ladder, meaning better pay earlier in life.
The Eastern Shore needs our delegation and the rest of the General Assembly to stand with Governor Moore and pass this bill. 90% of minimum wage workers are over the age of twenty, and half of the workers who will benefit from this raise are women and people of color, helping to narrow the gender and racial pay gap.
Chair of the LSPC Jared Schablein had the following to say: “Study after study has shown that when working people aren’t struggling to make it, they spend money in the local economy causing businesses to flourish. This common-sense piece of legislation will reduce poverty, grow our local economy, and fulfill the vision of the creator of the minimum wage, President Franklin Delano Roosvelt in being a livable wage.”
The Lower Shore has proudly worked on legislation to raise the Minimum Wage to $15/hr since its first passed back in 2019. As an organization we are committed to ensure every worker on the Eastern Shore makes a livable wage and can achieve a good quality of life.
The Lower Shore Progressive Caucus is a political and activist organization that covers Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester counties. The Lower Shore Progressive Caucus is unaffiliated with any political party and is committed to empowering working people. We do that by building a Progressive Movement both locally and on a larger scale to elect progressive representatives, enact progressive legislation, and by working to solve the economic, political, social, racial, and environmental injustices we face.