New laws across the DMV went into effect on July 1st, including DC’s $15 minimum wage

The DMV region as a whole is ushering a slew of new laws. As of July 1, minimum wage workers in D.C. and Montgomery County will now earn $15 an hour r. This measure hasn’t been replicated in any state to this point.

The District is guaranteeing paid family leave for anyone with a new child, or who needs to take care of a sick family member. Also, tipped workers’ base pay has gone up to $5 an hour.

Although D.C. officials have shied away from calling the reopening process amid the COVID-19 pandemic a “celebration,” they are calling these measures a cause to celebrate.

In Virginia, the state’s new Democratic majority General Assembly voted to approve a slew of new measures that are changing the face of the Commonwealth.

Marijuana has been decriminalized in the state, and local governments can take down Confederate monuments. Virginia residents will pay more in taxes for gasoline and cigarettes.

Also, lawmakers have passed the South’s strictest gun laws, broadest LGBTQ protections, highest minimum wage, and some of its loosest abortion restrictions.

In Maryland, the first phase of Montgomery County’s move to a $15 minimum wage goes into effect today.

The new laws in the DMV go into effect against the backdrop of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic – which has killed thousands – as well as the upheaval caused by calls for social justice in the wake of George Floyd’s death.