Back when the General Assembly passed the bill to raise the minimum wage in January, to $8.25 18 months from now, it was such a pathetic pittance that I and others immediately called for someone in the General Assembly to introduce legislation to up the wage to $10.10. Senator Robert Marshall (D-Wilmington West) responded:
[Marshall] is offering a new bill that calls for bumping the minimum wage in the First State to $10.10 cents an hour in 2016. The increase signed into law in January raises the state’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $7.75 starting June 1st – and it will move to $8.25 an hour next June. Marshall says his proposal is in response to President Obama and New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon announcing their plans to boost the wage for government workers this year. Those changes do not affect private sector workers.
“Given what’s happened elsewhere, some might be tempted to say we’re not moving fast enough,” Marshall said in a statement. “But increasing the rate in this way, first allows our current increase to take hold and, second, gives the economic recovery a chance to gain some more steam which makes it easier for businesses to handle the increase.”