Delaware Restaurateur

Senate Bill 39, seeking to raise Delaware’s minimumwage to $10.25 an hour by 2020, passed a Delaware

Senate vote in late January, and now heads to the House for approval in late March 2016.

The Senate vote came down along party lines, with eleven Democrats voting yes and all nine Republicans

voting no. The DRA will be very active in the House Committee Meetings and subsequent vote – bringing

restaurant and small business owners in to testify about the negative effects of a higher minimum wage.

INCREASE WILL HURT

CHARITIES, BUSINESSES

Originally appeared in the Delaware State News,

February 6

2016

Recently, the Delaware State Senate voted

on an increase in the minimum wage.

Despite multiple days of testimony from

some of Delaware’s valuable farmers,

small business owners and charities, the

Senate Democrats pushed through the

increase on a party-line vote.

Some of the strongest testimony I heard

came from Carolyn Fredricks from the

Modern Maturity Center in Dover. She

told the senators that this minimum

wage increase would result in fewer

seniors getting services in the future.

Since charities are largely funded by the

state, and since the state hasn’t increased

funding on their end in years, they will

have to reduce their workforce in order

to keep operating. It’s just math.

In addition, we heard from Ray Vincent

of Vincent Farms in Laurel and Curt

Fifer from Fifer Orchards in Camden-

Wyoming, among other farmers, who all

said that the proposed increase in the

minimum wage would be debilitating, if

not fatal, to their businesses, resulting in

hundreds of potential job losses.

We also heard from Garrett Grier, owner

of Duck In Car Wash in Milford and

Seaford, who said the only economic

State Sen. David G. Lawson, R-Marydel,

serves the 15

District.

delawarerestaurant.org

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L E G I S L A T I V E

U P D A T E

legislat ion

Could Delaware Face a $10.25 Minimum Wage?

SENATE BILL 39 PASSES DE SENATE

SPONSORS:

• Senator Marshall

• Senator McDowell

• Senator McBride • Representative Brady

• Representative Mulrooney