Leggett to Veto $15 an Hour Minimum Wage for Montgomery County

ROCKVILLE, MD — Efforts by the Montgomery County Council to gradually increase the county minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2020 must be revamped after County Executive Ike Leggett said in a memo that he will veto the measure. On Jan. 17 the council voted 5-4 to approve the bill in a bid to make Montgomery one of the first jurisdictions in the nation to require a $15 per hour minimum wage.

Leggett supports a gradual increase to a $15 an hour minimum wage, but says that he has several reservations about the legislation including “the time, circumstances and conditions.”

“The only way to express my position regarding this bill at this time is to reluctantly veto and return it to you with what I believe is a more reasonable path to moving the county to a $15 wage,” wrote Leggett in a Jan. 23 memo to County Council President Roger Berliner, reports Montgomery Community Media.

Council members Marc Elrich, Tom Hucker, George Leventhal, Nancy Navarro and Hans Riemer supported the legislation, while Council members Berliner, Nancy Floreen, Sidney Katz and Craig Rice opposed it.

The county minimum wage will increase to $11.50 per hour on July 1, 2017. The county minimum wage does not apply to a worker who is exempt from the state or federal minimum wage, is under the age of 19 years and is employed no more than 20 hours per week or subject to an “opportunity wage” under the state or federal law. Employers of tipped employees may include in the computation of their wage amount a “tip credit” not exceeding the County minimum wage less $4 per hour.

Councilmember Marc Elrich was the lead sponsor of Bill 12-16 to increase the county minimum wage incrementally beyond the $11.50 per hour minimum. More information about Bill 12-16 and its amendments can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/zk7no4n.

According to Leggett, for him to sign the bill, it should:

• Be based on an expeditious study in the direct and indirect financial impacts on private employers, nonprofits and county government;
• Include an exemption for small business;
• Include an exemption for youth workers;
• Provide for reaching $15/hour in 2022.

Leggett said he believes a revised bill that addresses these issues will result in a better outcome for Montgomery County residents and businesses.

As enacted, Bill 12-16 would have:

• Extend the incremental increases set in County law to go up to $15 per hour effective July 1, 2020, for employers with 26 or more employees. Under the bill’s transition provisions, the county minimum wage for these employers would increase to $12.50 in 2018, $13.75 in 2019 and $15 in 2020.
• Require annual adjustments to the minimum wage by the annual average increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for urban wage earners and clerical workers for the previous calendar year.

Among the amendments approved was one proposed by Councilmembers Elrich and Leventhal that changes the minimum wage schedule for businesses employers with 25 or fewer employees so that they reach $15 per hour two years later than larger employers. The phase in schedule for those the smaller businesses employers will be $12 per hour effective July 1, 2018; $12.75 per hour on July 1, 2019; $13.50 per hour on July 1, 2020; $14.25 per hour on July 1, 2021; and $15 per hour on July 1, 2022.

»Patch file photo of Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett