A Push Rooted in Pain and Promise Maryland’s current minimum wage — $15 an hour statewide — was considered ambitious when first passed. But inflation, rent spikes, and the soaring cost of essentials have rapidly eroded its purchasing power, especially in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Groups like One Fair Wage , the national advocacy organization leading the push, argue that $25 is no longer radical — it’s realistic. “You can’t survive on $15 anymore,” the group’s founder