Maryland Direct Support Workers to Receive Wage Increase

Legislation increasing Maryland’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2018 will also raise the wages of direct support workers in the state.

After months of debate, the minimum-wage hike passed the state legislature on April 7.

In a statement, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) praised the bill; raising the minimum wage was one of the top goals of his second term as governor. He is expected to sign the bill into law.

In addition to raising the minimum wage, the bill will also increase funding for direct support workers’ wages by 4 percent in FY 2015, and by 3.5 percent in FY 2016, FY 2017, and FY 2018.

Those budget increases will ensure that that workers who care for people with developmental disabilities will be paid approximately 30 percent higher than the new minimum wage, wrote Margaret Sessa-Hawkins of the Maryland Reporter.

On March 26, hundreds of direct support workers — and their clients — converged at the Maryland Senate building to rally in support of the provision granting them a wage increase.

— by Matthew Ozga