--- title: Maryland Legislature Votes to Hike Minimum Wage, Decriminalize Pot description: Gov. Martin O'Malley is now expected to sign a bill to raise the state's minimum hourly pay to $10.10, becoming the second state after Connecticut to act in support of President Obama's call for that federal wage, and another bill that decriminalizes small amounts of pot canonical: https://time.com/53392/maryland-minimum-wage-marijuana/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-08T11:51:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:11:22.352Z article:section: Politics og:title: Maryland Votes to Hike Minimum Wage, Decriminalize Marijuana og:description: Gov. Martin O'Malley is now expected to sign a bill to raise the state's minimum hourly pay to $10.10, becoming the second state after Connecticut to act in support of President Obama's call for that federal wage, and another bill that decriminalizes small amounts of pot og:url: https://time.com/53392/maryland-minimum-wage-marijuana/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8ee4fa611b86670/6986897313c79fa4af1917ba/maryland-governor-martin-omalley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley speaks with reporters in his office inside the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md., on April 7, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Maryland Votes to Hike Minimum Wage, Decriminalize Marijuana twitter:description: Gov. Martin O'Malley is now expected to sign a bill to raise the state's minimum hourly pay to $10.10, becoming the second state after Connecticut to act in support of President Obama's call for that federal wage, and another bill that decriminalizes small amounts of pot twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8ee4fa611b86670/6986897313c79fa4af1917ba/maryland-governor-martin-omalley.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Maryland Votes To Hike Minimum Wage, Reform Pot Laws > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 8, 2014 11:51 AM UTC  Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley speaks with reporters in his office inside the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md., on April 7, 2014. Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley speaks with reporters in his office inside the Maryland State House in Annapolis, Md., on April 7, 2014. Patrick Semansky—AP  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Apr 8, 2014 11:51 AM UTC The Maryland legislature voted to raise the minimum wage to President Obama’s goal of $10.10 and acted to [decriminalize](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/at-sessions-end-maryland-legislature-backs-minimum-wage-hike-loosens-marijuana-laws/2014/04/07/179df392-be7b-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3%5Fstory.html) small amounts of marijuana Monday in the final legislative session of Governor Martin O’Malley’s term. O’Malley is expected to sign both bills into law. The legislature also outlawed “revenge porn” and finalized a bill to get tough on drivers who cause accidents because of cell phone use, but didn’t boost tax credit funding for productions like Netflix show _House of Cards_ that shoot in the state, the Washington Post [reports. ](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/at-sessions-end-maryland-legislature-backs-minimum-wage-hike-loosens-marijuana-laws/2014/04/07/179df392-be7b-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3%5Fstory.html) The new wage bill makes Maryland the second state after Connecticut to act in support of Obama’s call for a $10.10 federal minimum wage, compared to the current $7.25 hourly wage. The bill gives state business owners until 2018 to raise their wages, but the President applauded the legislature for “leading by example.” The legislature also passed two marijuana bills. One would decriminalize possession of the drug in amounts under 10g, and impose civil fines instead. The other would make medicinal marijuana more widely accessible. \[[WaPo](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/at-sessions-end-maryland-legislature-backs-minimum-wage-hike-loosens-marijuana-laws/2014/04/07/179df392-be7b-11e3-bcec-b71ee10e9bc3%5Fstory.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/53392/maryland-minimum-wage-marijuana/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/53392/maryland-minimum-wage-marijuana/"},"headline":"Maryland Votes To Hike Minimum Wage, Reform Pot Laws","datePublished":"2014-04-08T11:51:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:11:22.352Z","description":"Gov. 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