Delaware Senate delays vote on minimum wage hike

The Delaware Senate postponed until Wednesday a vote on a bill to raise Delaware's minimum wage $2 to $10.25 by 2020, with the bill's sponsor saying he is one vote short of passing it.

As of June 1, the state's minimum wage is $8.25 an hour. Senate Bill 39 would raise that by 50 cents a year, starting in July of 2017, until it reaches $10.25 an hour by 2020.

The bill also would also make it so that the minimum wage automatically grows to match inflation as Social Security does.

Sen. Robert Marshall, D-Wilmington West, and most of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate say increasing the minimum wage would put more money in families' pockets, fighting poverty and pumping more into the consumer economy.

But Republicans say the bill would raise costs for employers, driving some to lay off workers, close down or move to other states.

Democrats hold 12 of the 21 seats in the Senate. That means all but one Democrat needs to vote "yes" for it to pass, and it means two Democrats haven't been convinced to do so.

It appears one of those Democrats is Sen. Brian Bushweller, D-Central Kent, who voiced concerns about how higher employment costs would affect agriculture and Delaware's casino industry, and also said he was not comfortable allowing the minimum wage to grow without the Legislature's approval.

Marshall made a concession on the bill Tuesday, scratching an amendment that would have raised the minimum wage even higher, to $15 an hour. He said he was not willing to further lower the amount, but did say he might negotiate the automatic cost-of-living increases.

"I want to take some extra time to see if I can get 11 votes," he said.

Republicans bashed the proposal during the debate and invited several speakers, including a few agricultural employers from downstate who said they could not afford the increase in labor costs and would have to fire people, close or move if the bill passed.

"This isn't the same Delaware that it was 15, 20 years ago. There is no MBNA; there are no auto plants," said Joe Fitzgerald, representing the New Castle County Chamber of Commerce. "It's a question of mathematics rather than morality."

Sen. Colin Bonini, R-Dover South, unsuccessfully proposed a protest amendment that would have renamed the bill the "Delaware Job Killing Act of 2016."

Bonini is running for governor this fall.

Several Democrats said they weren't convinced by Republican arguments.

"This is an old song. I've heard it every time we've raised the minimum wage," said Sen. Harris McDowell, D-Wilmington North. "If you never raise the minimum wage, you will have people drop into abject poverty while working full time."

Contact Matthew Albright at malbright@delawareonline.com, (302) 324-2428 or on Twitter @TNJ_malbright.