Good news for small business owners in Baltimore: Mayor Catherine Pugh vetoed legislation last month that would have raised the minimum wage in the city to $15 by 2022.
Many business owners and business groups spoke out against the proposal, and Baltimore finance officials said the wage hike would cost taxpayers $115 million over four years because of the increase to city worker wages. Officials also warned that the city could lose hundreds of jobs because Baltimore would have a minimum wage $4 higher than the rest of the state. If the city council is to overturn the veto, it will take 12 votes. The measure had a 12-member coalition backing it, but the Baltimore Sun reported that support had begun to disband.
Del. Dereck E. Davis had also tried to prevent the wage hike with a bill that would prohibit counties and cities from setting their own minimum wages, but the measure doesn’t have the votes to pass committee.
However, meanwhile, the Legislature is making its own moves on hiking the minimum wage statewide. This would be the second new state minimum wage law in three years, CBS Baltimore reported. In 2015, the minimum wage increased to $8 from $7.25, then $8.25 in 2016 and now $8.75. In July, it will rise to $9.25 and to $10.10 in 2018.
NFIB/MD testified against the bill, which would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2023 and tie it to the Consumer Price Index thereafter, before the House Economic Matters Committee.
“The impact that such a dramatic increase in labor costs would have on the small business community cannot be understated,” said NFIB/MD State Director Mike O’Halloran. “It is an idea that has been birthed by lawmakers claiming to advocate for workers that lack a comprehensive understanding of the reality that inflicting $15 an hour would have on the job market in Maryland. The very people that proponents of this legislation claim to want to help will be left unemployed or with fewer hours to work. It is imperative that legislators understand the real economic impact instead of acting out of political expediency.”
