Senate approves $1 wage increase

ANNAPOLIS — Senate Democrats yesterday overrode Republican objections and approved increasing the state minimum wage by $1, to $6.15 an hour.

The bill was approved on a 30-16 vote and sent to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

Mr. Ehrlich, a Republican, voted against increases in the federal minimum wage when he was in Congress, but has not said whether he will sign the bill passed by the Senate.

“He is not enthusiastic about it and prefers that this issue be settled at the federal level, but he will reserve judgment until it reaches his desk,” Ehrlich spokesman Henry Fawell said.

Senate Republicans voted as a bloc against the bill and were joined by two Democrats from conservative districts — James E. DeGrange Sr. of Anne Arundel County and Roy Dyson of St. Mary’s County.

Before the final vote was taken, Republicans tried to amend the bill to allow employers who provide health insurance for employees to deduct the cost of the health care from the $1 increase.

Sen. Andrew P. Harris, Baltimore County Republican, said when employers have to pay the higher minimum wage, “some of them may choose not to offer health insurance.”

“Let’s reward them if they are giving health insurance to their employees,” he said.

Sen. Delores G. Kelley, Baltimore County Democrat, urged the Senate to reject the Harris amendment, which it did on a 29-17 roll call.

Mrs. Kelley said the amendment did not provide any minimum standards that health insurance would have to meet to qualify for the lower wage.

“They could provide something that may be worth $1 a week and would be meaningless,” she said.

The new minimum wage, which would take effect Oct. 1 unless Mr. Ehrlich vetoes it, would apply to about 62,000 Marylanders. Sixteen other states already have minimum wages higher than the federal $5.15 figure.

The Maryland Chamber of Commerce opposed raising the state’s minimum wage, arguing that it would hurt many owners of small businesses who “are struggling to remain competitive in Maryland’s marketplace.”

Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. yesterday said prospects are dim for passage of a stem-cell research bill in the final five days of the legislative session because sponsors have been unable to get the votes needed to shut off a filibuster.

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