By Craig Anderson

WILMINGTON - With employees making a $15 hourly wage, there’s less staff turnover and retraining needed.

That’s according to Canalside Inn owner Kristen Deptula, who currently pays five workers what some want to see as Delaware’s minimum wage by 2025.

Also, the Rehoboth Beach business owner believes higher paid employees are more likely to spend money.

“They’re able to have a little flexibility with their budget and can go out and have some fun while putting money back into the economy,” she said on Tuesday.

“And they’re happier, too. They’re going to work better, be more efficient in their duties, and provide better customer service to our guests because they might not be dealing with as much stress that can come with finances.”

At a press conference hosted by the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ via Zoom Wednesday Ms. Deptula was cited as a small business owner with a stake in proposed legislation to incrementally raise the minimum wage.

The event was held on national Fight for $15 Day of Action.

If Senate Bill 15 with Senate Amendment 1 becomes law, the hourly minimum wage would increase from $9.25 to $10.50 on Jan. 1, 2022, followed by yearly increases to $11.75, $13.25, and $15 from 2023 to 2025.

David Cooper, senior economic analyst for the Economic Policy Institute, offered insight during the virtual gathering, professing his belief that the state’s minimum wage is outdated, would help tens of thousands of Delaware’s lowest paid workers (especially women and workers of color, he said), and allow businesses to retain more productive employees able to go out and spend more.

“The best thing policymakers can do to guarantee a swift recovery is bolster consumer spending, get more money into the hands of people who will go out and spend it so that businesses that have struggled with a huge dropoff in sales the past year will see a steady stream of customers coming through their door,” said Mr. Cooper, who had previously testified at legislative committee hearings.

The bill passed the Delaware Senate in March upon party lines (with Democrats in support) and is currently being considered by the Delaware House.

According to SB 15 main sponsor State Sen. Jack Walsh, D-Stanton, “The economic health of this nation turns on a core proposition that if you put in a hard day’s work you will earn a fair day’s wage to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head.

“That was the promise behind the minimum wage (being created) in 1938 to lift America out of the Great Depression and that’s the premise behind SB 15, which is intended to lift Delawareans out of poverty as we emerge from this pandemic.”

Rep. Gerald Brady, D-Wilmington, said he believed the bill would be released from the Capital Appropriations Committee next week for discussion in the House of Representatives.

“This is without a doubt, in my view, the year that by the 30th (of June) we will have a $15 an hour minimum wage here in the state of Delaware,” he said.

“I can tell you that the progress of the bill has been consistent. ...”