Annapolis (January 14, 2014) – The state’s leading advocate for small businesses
today said its members are troubled by a push by officials in Prince George’s
County to exempt Six Flags from a higher minimum wage.
“Thousands of small
businesses in Maryland rely on seasonal and part-time workers just like Six
Flags,” said NFIB State Director Jessica
Cooper. “The impact on them will be
just as devastating and it’s completely unfair to treat them like second-class
citizens.”
NFIB has warned
repeatedly that raising the minimum wage would destroy jobs in Maryland. Six Flags obviously agrees and it has managed
to convince local officials to exempt it from labor costs that it can’t absorb. Instead of creating a patchwork of local
rates to accommodate favored companies, local and state lawmakers should scrap
the increase altogether and focus on making all employers more competitive.
“The fact that
they’re considering a carve-out for one company means that they understand the
negative potential. How, then, can it
make sense to exempt just one employer,” said Cooper. “It doesn’t make sense and it certainly isn’t
fair.”
Governor O’Malley
and lawmakers are preparing to raise the state minimum wage from $7.25 per hour
to $10 per hour, an increase of more than 37 percent in the cost of entry-level
labor. Moreover, the proposal would
trigger automatic increases every year thereafter based on the Consumer Price
Index.
“Six Flags
obviously doesn’t believe that it can absorb a 37 percent increase in its labor
costs with future increases on autopilot,” said Cooper. “Many small businesses can’t afford that
either and sparing them shouldn’t be a lower priority for the Legislature.”
Allowing local
officials to strike their own rates would be just as big a headache.
“Plenty of small
businesses have more than one location,” said Cooper. “There will be pressure on local officials
all over the state to carve out their own exemptions and the result will be a
bookkeeping and compliance nightmare for small businesses.”
For more
information on NFIB please visit www.nfib.com.
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