Policy Documents  The Impact of Raising the Minimum Wage on the
Maryland Economy  Stephen Fuller, Parker Bedsole and Scott
Nystrom – January 1, 2014  Raising the minimum wage rate has
gained popularity at the local and state level over the past
year with the effective hourly wage rate rising in 13 states on
January 1, 2014. The President called for a higher minimum wage
rate in his State of the Union message last year and recently
has been speaking in support of an increase in the minimum
hourly wage to $10.10. The District of Columbia, and Prince
George’s and Montgomery Counties in Maryland each raised its
minimum wage rate to $11.50 (over several years) at the end of
2013. These increases in minimum wages have been largely
predicated on issues relating to increasing poverty on a growing
income gap between rich and poor, or just because it is the
“right thing to do” or “we can afford it” without actually
understanding what the economies of higher minimum wages are or
who will actually benefit. This report pr