State senators held off on voting on a bill Tuesday that would raise Delaware’s minimum wage to $10.25 an hour by 2020. It would then rise with any cost of living adjustment given to Social Security recipients in perpetuity.
The move came after nearly an hour and a half of debate that stretched into the early evening.
Chief sponsor Sen. Robert Marshall (D-Wilmington West) says he thought he had the votes to pass it this afternoon, but that confidence waivered as the debate went on.
“The public debate may have an impact and apparently raise enough concern that I’d rather take the time and have a higher level of confidence that there are 11 votes to get the bill passed,” said Marshall.
Farmers and those owning ag businesses from around Delaware testified at length as to how the increase would impact them.
Steve McCarron, a manager for Kenny Brothers Produce in Bridgeville, says his company wouldn’t be able to absorb that big of a payroll hit should the bill pass.
He says international competitors using cheaper labor undercut his sales.
“While we are debating raising the cost of the least skilled workers that we need, there are salesmen in offices across this nation selling products produced with labor that costs 10 cents on our dollar,” said McCarron.
Sen. Harris McDowell (D-Wilmington North) posed several questions to farmers, asking them about yearly fluctuations in the price of their equipment or supplies.
He asked why should they expect to pay employees the same wages each year, despite inflation eroding their purchasing power.
“Why should you freeze the one thing that is needed by human beings that comes out of your operation? The wages, the salaries,” said McDowell.
Before debate, Marshall struck an amendment he filed late last year that would’ve boosted the minimum wage level in the bill to more than $15 an hour, saying he didn’t have enough support for it.
Sen. Colin Bonini (R-Dover South), who’s running for governor this year, also put forward an amendment to name it the “Delaware Job Killing Act of 2016” but that quickly failed.
The proposal’s future is unclear.
Gov. Jack Markell (D-Delaware) won’t say whether he’d sign the bill and Rep. Bryon Short, who chairs the House Economic Development Committee didn’t respond to a text message asking if he’d support it either.
Debate continues Wednesday afternoon.
Also, a Delaware judge is asking the state Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of our state’s death penalty.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently dubbed Florida’s system unconstitutional, since the jury can only recommend a death sentence with the judge having the final power.
Delaware’s system is similar, though a jury here has to unanimously agree there are aggravating factors in a particular case to warrant the death penalty.
State Public Defender Brendan O’Neill called Superior Court Judge Paul Wallace’s decision a “wise and prudent” one.
“It makes sense to have the Supreme Court resolve this issue before all parties – the state, the defense and the court – spend extraordinary amounts of time, energy and resources,” said O'Neill.
Right now, Delaware has 39 pending capital murder cases according to O’Neill.
Coincidentally, the state House will debate abolishing the death penalty in Delaware altogether Thursday.
