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The minimum wage increase in the District of Columbia has officially taken effect today, making it the highest minimum wage of any state or territory in the U.S.
The Minimum Wage Amendment Act of 2013, which was signed into law in January of 2014 by then-mayor Vince Gray, will increase the minimum wage by a dollar each year until 2016, when it hits $11.50 an hour. In Maryland, the minimum wage increased by a quarter today, to $8.25 an hour.
The bill, which was introduced by At-Large Councilman Vincent Orange, was a fall out of the Large Retailer Accountability Act, which Gray vetoed when it passed the Council’s vote.
Even though the District will have the highest minimum wage in the country, many activists say it’s not enough. There’s currently a coalition working to get a measure on the next ballot to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in D.C.
“No one working a full-time job should be able to get Medicaid or on food stamps … but that is what these workers have to do to make ends meet,” Lisa Brown, executive vice president of 1199 SEIU said during a rally on Tax Day this year.
The coalition hopes to get the measure on the 2016 ballot.