$15 An Hour Minimum Wage Approved By Montgomery County Council

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Montgomery County's elected leaders have supported an increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but disagreed on how to get to that point. On Tuesday, members of the Montgomery County Council unanimously approved steps that will move all employers to that rate by 2023.

Businesses with 51 or more employees must pay a $15 an hour minimum wage by July 1, 2021, reports Montgomery Community Media. Nonprofits and companies with 11 to 50 employees are required to pay the new rate by 2023; small companies with 10 or fewer employees must reach the $15-an-hour rate by 2023.

In November 2013, the council phased in a minimum wage increase to $11.50. In April 2016, council member Marc Elrich introduced a bill to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. The measure was approved 5-4, but County Executive Ike Leggett vetoed the legislation because of the pace of change.

After Tuesday's vote, Leggett said that based on the changes from the original bill, he plans to sign the measure into law.

“Montgomery County has a long history of programs and policies designed to increase opportunities for low-wage workers – more than just about any other jurisdiction. That includes prior increases in the county minimum wage, a law requiring county government contractors to pay a ‘living wage,’ a county earned income tax credit, and paid sick leave requirements – among others," Leggett said in his statement. “Montgomery County residents who work hard to support themselves and their families need and deserve yet another increase in the minimum wage. The question over the past year has been how much, within what time period, and how we mitigate possible negative impacts on our small businesses and on youth employment."

Councilmember Marc Elrich, the lead sponsor of the bill, said raising the minimum wage to help parents feed their children and afford housing is good for families and schools. It is also good for neighborhoods and the economy, he said, adding when poor families have more money to spend, they will spend it at local businesses.

"This is huge. ... People who work deserve to earn a decent wage," Elrich said. ... "While our county is one of the wealthiest in the country, we have too many people living in poverty despite working long hours. More than one-third of our residents are renters, and many of them are using half of their income just to put a roof over their heads."

While Elrich said he understands concerns that raising the minimum wage could harm small businesses, the councilman said numerous studies have looked into the effects of local minimum wage increases and found that they don't hurt employment.

"However, we listened and attempted to address concerns by providing slower phase-ins for mid-sized and small businesses, non-profits, and home and community based health care providers heavily dependent on Medicaid funding. The bill also allows a pause in the increases if local economic conditions warrant it," he said.

One of the bill's co-sponsors, council member George Leventhal, said in a news release that he regretted few minimum wage workers were heard from on the proposal.

"They may be afraid to criticize their employers. They may have irregular work schedules. They may not have access to information about the County Council's work. But when we are making decisions about those who need the most help from government, I would like us to follow the dictum, "No decisions about us, without us," Leventhal said.

The amended bill is a good compromise, said Council President Roger Berliner.

"From day one, I felt our task was to reconcile competing truths: the worthy cause of lifting up working people who struggle to make ends meet and the need to mitigate economic harm to our small business community, the economic engine of our county," Berliner said in a statement. "From day one, I thought the measures before us did not find the right balance, and with the support of the County Executive, we gained the time we needed to get this right – to reconcile these competing truths."

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