City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young is joining a coalition of council members pushing for a $15 hourly minimum wage in Baltimore.
Legislation is expected to be introduced at the council’s Monday evening meeting.
The bill would incrementally raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 by 2022. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees would have until 2026 to increase their minimum wage to that level.
Young said the bill is a compromise that follows Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke’s efforts last year to increase wages for Baltimore’s lowest-paid workers. He previously opposed raising the minimum wage higher than $11.50.
"I worked cooperatively with the sponsor of the bill on a compromise piece of legislation that will allow Baltimore to lead the state as an example of how to put workers first," Young said in a statement. "I look forward to supporting the bill as introduced."
Baltimore City Council members spoke out Thursday against a General Assembly bill that would block the city and other jurisdictions from raising the minimum wage above what’s approved by the state.
Council members Mary Pat Clarke, Kristerfer Burnett, Ryan Dorsey, Shannon Sneed, Robert Stokes and…
Baltimore City Council members spoke out Thursday against a General Assembly bill that would block the city and other jurisdictions from raising the minimum wage above what’s approved by the state.
Council members Mary Pat Clarke, Kristerfer Burnett, Ryan Dorsey, Shannon Sneed, Robert Stokes and…
Clarke said the bill is designed to protect "our smallest businesses from burdensome annual increases and sets our local workforce on the path to self-sufficiency."
Small business would have to increases the minimum wage for their workers by 60 cents a year.
The state minimum wage is scheduled to increase every year until it reaches $10.10 in 2018. The city’s bill would follow that schedule, then continue to increase to $15. Supporters say that gives employers a year-and-a-half to prepare.
With the election of eight new council members in November, Clarke has said she has enough votes to raise Baltimore’s minimum wage. Her previous legislation failed by one vote in August. Three of the members who opposed the measure were replaced by members who have pledged to support the increase.
With eight new Democrats joining Baltimore’s City Council in December, proponents of a $15 hourly minimum wage relaunched their campaign to hike wages for the city’s low-income workers.
After failing by one vote in August, advocates for a higher minimum wage feel more confident now that three council…
With eight new Democrats joining Baltimore’s City Council in December, proponents of a $15 hourly minimum wage relaunched their campaign to hike wages for the city’s low-income workers.
After failing by one vote in August, advocates for a higher minimum wage feel more confident now that three council…
Advocates estimate nearly 100,000 workers — about 27 percent of Baltimore employees — would benefit from the law. They have said a higher wage would help address entrenched poverty in Baltimore, where about a quarter of residents live below the poverty line and more than a fifth of households receive food stamps.
Mayor Catherine Pugh has said she would prefer if the minimum wage was "consistent" across the state.
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