WALL STREET JOURNAL — Maryland lawmakers on Monday approved gradually raising the minimum wage there to $10.10 an hour, the latest in a wave of states that have boosted the pay rate amid uncertain prospects in Congress for a federal increase.

Democratic Gov. Martin O’Malley said he would sign the bill, passed the same week as the U.S. Senate is expected to bring up the $10.10 wage proposal sought by PresidentBarack Obama at the federal level. The House would almost certainly kill such an increase.

Opponents won some key concessions by delaying full phase-in until mid-2018, not tying future increases to inflation and keeping minimum pay in check for waiters and other tipped workers.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal.