The District stands alone in the metropolitan area with its $15-an-hour minimum wage, now that Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett has vetoed a similar measure approved by the County Council last week.
Just four years ago, lawmakers in the District and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties passed legislation to increase minimum pay to $11.50 by 2018. The measures were approved within a week of each other. That all three jurisdictions were working in concert was important to lawmakers at the time.
But the Prince George’s County Council rejected a $15-an-hour minimum wage bill last year, saying the county needs more economic drivers before increasing pay is a viable option.
And in vetoing minimum wage legislation on Tuesday, Mr. Leggett called for an economic impact study of the measure and more exemptions for small businesses.
It’s a move applauded by regional business leaders, even as it sets the District apart from its nearest neighbors.
“You have to look at this in a regional context, so you don’t put any jurisdiction at a competitive disadvantage,” Jim Dinegar, president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, said in approval of Mr. Leggett’s veto. “A higher minimum wage pushes the floor up higher for everyone. And that can’t be completely absorbed by the business community.”
Those higher costs often mean higher prices for consumers and fewer jobs for those who need them, Mr. Dinegar said, adding that the wage increase could produce a chilling effect in hiring. For example, some small businesses would be forced to hire two people at $15-per-hour instead of three people at $10-per-hour, he said.
What’s more, the D.C. Chamber of Commerce has reported that most businesses in the District would not hire more workers if the minimum wage were increased to $15 an hour, based on a 2015 survey. In addition, more than half of city businesses indicated they would need to cut workers’ hours because of the wage increase.
The current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour has not changed in seven years.
Nonetheless, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser believes the minimum wage increase will help residents struggling to live in an increasingly expensive city.
“The mayor still believes that raising the District’s minimum wage was the right thing to do, and it remains a key component of her agenda to create more pathways to the middle class for D.C. families,” Bowser spokesman Kevin Harris said. “We believe that the District can both support working families with a wage increase and remain competitive.”
Mr. Harris pointed to declining unemployment numbers in the city, which show a 1.7 percent decrease in the unemployment rate over the last two years, including a 3.2 percent for Ward 7 and a 3.8 percent drop for Ward 8.
If Miss Bowser is seeking reassurances that her call to increase the minimum wage was the right choice, she need to look no further than the local labor unions and activists.
The Service Employees International Union along with Jews United for Justice, Metro Washington Central Labor Council, Progressive Maryland and other labor advocates blasted Mr. Leggett for rejecting Montgomery County’s wage hike.
“Working families who fear life under the Trump presidency need not wait for the White House to make their lives harder — their own local leaders have already started,” a statement from the consortium of groups said. “By vetoing the $15 minimum wage, which enjoys overwhelming public support, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has chosen to yank back a critical lifeline and leave working families only a payday away from poverty.”
The groups said vetoing the measure would actually end up costing taxpayers as families will have to rely on public assistance to survive.
“Working families have nowhere left to turn to now but their council members, who can act responsibly by supporting a mainstream Democratic position and override the veto,” the groups said.
In a letter to the county council after vetoing the bill, which narrowly passed without a veto-proof majority, Mr. Leggett said he wasn’t dismissing the increase out-of-hand, but rather looking for more evidence that the hike wouldn’t hurt small businesses.
“It is clear that there is broad support in the community and on the Council for an increase in the minimum wage to $15/hour,” he wrote. “The real questions are how quickly we get there and what exemptions should be made.”
Mr. Leggett, who said he would not seek reelection when his third term ends next year, wants the County Council to fund an economic study on raising the minimum wage, push the rate increase until 2022 and add more exemptions for small businesses.
“Leggett was very responsible in his comments on the veto,” said Mr. Dinegar of the Greater Washington Board of Trade. “He wants to figure out how this plays out in the region and he took into account small businesses and nonprofits.”
• Ryan M. McDermott can be reached at rmcdermott@washingtontimes.com.
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